Of course, little Black had already warned Shun Long about the ambush beforehand, but he didn't bother changing directions. He was participating in the 'outer sect examination', what would he gain by avoiding every fight?
After taking a look at the blonde young woman and sensing her early rank 3 earth grade strength, Shun Long's eyes focused on the white-robed young man.
This young man who had a red sword on his waist was at the middle stage of rank 3 in earth grade, and he was the strongest person in their group.
The man's eyes were also staring intently at Shun Long, as he then turned his head to look at the pretty young woman beside him before speaking gently
''Lei Xiang, I will take care of this guy. You can take care of that guy from the 'Roaring wind pavilion'.''
''Yi Zeming, are you okay?'' the blonde girl asked the young man after she saw him staring at Shun Long intently
Yi Zeming had a feeling that Shun Long was more dangerous than Yong Ru, even though he couldn't sense his strength, so he decided to test him out directly. As for the rest of the disciples, they had surrounded Shun Long and Yong Ru as they waited for orders.
Although Lei Xiang was also from the 'floating cloud sect', she didn't have any scruples teaming up with a disciple of the 'Flying sword sect' or attacking another disciple from her sect. You could do anything you wanted in this 'outer sect examination' after all and the sect wouldn't care.
Yong Ru pulled out his blue sword as he stared at Lei Xiang who was holding a yellow bow in her hands.
''What do you think? Do you feel like surrendering your survival points now?'' Lei Xiang asked Yong Ru smilingly.
Yong Ru shook his head as he charged straight towards her.
Shun Long instead, looked at Yi Zeming, who had unsheathed his bright red sword as he said to the disciples around him
''Make sure to assist Lei Xiang properly!''
As they heard Yi Zeming's words, both the disciples from the 'Flying sword sect' as well as the 'floating cloud sect' who had surrounded them, charged towards Yong Ru while Lei Xiang had taken cover behind the trees as she shot arrow after arrow at him.
''Draw your weapon!'' Yi Zeming said sternly but Shun Long simply shook his head as he clenched his left fist.
He could use his 'Monarch's Domain' to take care of the guys attacking Yong Ru as well as this Ye Zeming, but he didn't do so for 2 reasons.
The first reason was that Yong Ru had already seen the inexplicable scenario where Wong Huo had died 'in a split second' a few days ago and he would instantly connect the dots if the same thing happened again now. While the second reason was that Yong Ru didn't seem to be in a bad spot and was seemingly smiling as he fought the disciples of the 'Flying sword sect' and the 'floating cloud sect'.
These disciples' strength was ranging between rank 9 in qi condensation while the strongest among them was just at the middle rank 1 in earth grade. However, Lei Xiang's arrows that were covering these disciples were truly dangerous.
''Are you looking down on me?'' Yi Zeming roared in anger after seeing that Shun Long wasn't using a weapon, as he then rushed towards him with his sword in hand.
Shun Long didn't directly attack Yi Zeming and instead focused on dodging his attacks. With the enhancement in his speed from the 'Monarch's Eternal body' he could actually keep up with Yi Zeming's fast attacks as he dodged his sword again and again.
Yi Zeming was advancing forward while Shun Long was moving backwards, but no attack had connected with him just yet. This was a very frustrating fighting style where you couldn't hit your opponent no matter how hard you swung your sword, but the truth was that this was dangerous for Shun Long as well.
It wasn't easy to avoid a sword every time and it took a lot of mental focus as well as immense physical strength, to keep up with the speed of Yi Zeming's sword.
And yet, Shun Long could sense that he was getting better and better at fighting the more this fight dragged on. He had already spotted a few openings during Yi Zeming's attacks, but because he wasn't prepared earlier, he couldn't take advantage of them.
Yi Zeming seemed to be getting increasingly frustrated as beads of sweat were now rolling off his face as he roared
''Is dodging all you can do brat?''
Shun Long however ignored him as he continued to dodge repeatedly. Although his body had been reforged from scratch with the help of the 'Monarch's Eternal body', Yi Zeming's sword was definitely at rank 3 bronze grade if not higher, and Shun Long was sure that he wouldn't be able to withstand it just yet, if his fist were to directly clash with a rank 3 bronze grade sword.
Yi Zeming was starting to get tired after hacking with his sword unsuccessfully for such a long time. Hitting your opponent and missing them, were 2 completely different concepts. Constantly hitting the air affected not only your physical performance but your mental ability as well, as it both tired the mind and the body much more compared to if your attacks were getting blocked.
Yi Zeming had started hacking senselessly around him feeling extremely frustrated, as Shun Long's eyes narrowed while he gathered his strength in his right hand.
As Yi Zeming's sword once again slashed the air, Shun Long's right hand directly collided with Yi Zeming's lower ribs as a cracking sound was heard loudly before he was sent flying through the air.
Shun Long had used more than 80% of his strength in this punch and the results were devastating.
Yi Zeming's body flew through the air as it landed a few dozen meters away, on Yong Ru's and Lei Xiang's battlefield.
70
''NO!!'' A woman's scream was heard as Yi Zeming landed on the ground in the midst of their fight, while he was clutching tightly his left ribcage as he then screamed in pain.
Lei Xiang rushed to his side, and the fight suddenly halted while everyone's eyes turned towards Shun Long.
Yong Ru looked at him too as he laughed loudly drawing everyone's attention as he walked by his side.
''Haha as expected of brother Shun!''
Shun Long smiled at him as he asked
''Are you okay?''
''Just a few cuts here and there but I'm okay! I haven't been able to fight like this before in my life.''
''I will make you pay for this!'' Lei Xiang's voice was suddenly heard as she looked at Shun Long with eyes full of hatred
Shun Long however, looked at her disdainfully as he said
''Hand over your 'sect identifying jades' quickly.''
''WHAT?'' Lei Xiang's voice was incredulous as she couldn't believe what she had heard. This guy wanted to rob them instead?
Yong Ru looked at her as if he was looking at an idiot and asked
''Didn't you want to rob us first? Of course, you will lose your 'sect identifying jades' now. What do you have to complain about anyway? Isn't this a survival test in the first place?''
''Do you know who I am?'' Lei Xiang completely ignored Yong Ru's 'logical words' as she looked at Shun Long and spoke in a threatening tone
Shun Long's look in his eyes chilled, when all of a sudden Yi Zeming struggled to stand up before he threw his sect jade over.
''Brother Yi!'' Lei Xiang looked at Yi Zeming who in return simply shook his head at her.
Shun Long grabbed his sect jade and took his survival points that had already reached a staggering number of 43.
Lei Xiang gritted her teeth as she also threw her sect jade at Shun Long.
After Shun Long took Yi Zeming's, Lei Xiang's, as well as the rest of all their survival points, he now had close to 120 of them.
Yong Ru was laughing in schadenfreude as he looked at Lei Xiang whose eyes looked as they were about to spit fire after having lost all of her survival points and said in a mocking tone
''You are Lei Xiang right? Are you going to cry to your elder brother after you return to the 'floating cloud sect'? It's simply bad luck that you tried to rob me and brother Shun though.''
''YOU...'' Lei Xiang was extremely angry but she didn't know what to say as she watched Shun Long and Yong Ru leisurely heading deeper towards the inner region. After taking a deep breath she asked Yi Zeming
''Brother Yi what happened back then?''
Yi Zeming lowered his head as he whispered
''Xiang'er that guy is a monster! He is a body refining cultivator!''
''What? You mean that he is the same as Da Chong from the 'Iron-hardened sect'?''
''He is the same type of cultivator as Da Chong but he is definitely weaker than him in terms of strength. Da Chong beats people with his immense physical strength, while this kid used his speed to beat me. I'm not sure if he is a match for Da Chong at all, but he is definitely more than what we can handle now.'' Yi Zeming shook his head as he answered
''Hmph, since he is a member of my 'floating cloud sect' I will definitely have my brother teach him a lesson when we return.'' Lei Xiang frowned and her pretty face was filled with displeasure as she thought of this guy who stole all of her survival points.
Meanwhile Shun Long and Yong Ru were walking deeper inside as Yong Ru said
''Brother Shun, I have 3 important things to tell you''
Shun Long then looked at Yong Ru who continued speaking
''The first thing is this girl named Lei Xiang. Although she by herself isn't anything to worry about, I need to warn you about her elder brother. You have certainly heard about him since you are an outer disciple of the 'floating cloud sect', her elder brother is Lei Pong. Brother Shun, I'm saying this so you can be prepared when you return back in your sect, as this person may personally find trouble with you for messing with his sister. Although we didn't do anything that went against any sect rules, petty-minded people like Lei Xiang will definitely look to get back at us in the future.''
Shun Long heard this and laughed coldly inside. If he managed to get first place in this sect examination and get the 'Blood Vermilion fruit' then he would probably be a match for Lei Pong by himself then.
As Yong Ru looked at Shun Long who seemed to be slightly smiling, he continued
''I'm certain that with your strength, brother Shun, you will definitely try to enter the top 3 in the overall sect rankings for this examination right? In that case there are 2 things that you need to pay attention to.
The survival points that you have gathered up to now, are not even enough to enter the top 100. I don't know exactly how many points you will need to enter the top 3, but it will definitely be at least 5.000 of them.
And also, since you aim to get in the top 3 rankings there are three people that you need to pay close attention to in this sect examination. These people are all at the peak of rank 3 in earth grade, but it is rumored that their strength is even a match for some early rank 4 earth grade experts.''
Shun Long's eyes shone as he was intrigued by this. Seeing that he had captured his attention, Yong Ru said
''One of these 3 people, is my senior sister from the 'Roaring wind pavilion' and I'm sure that you have heard of her before, her name is Jiao Mingxia.''
71
Yong Ru looked at him expectantly as he was certain that Shun Long would have heard of his senior sister's name, but when he looked at his face, Yong Ru felt like a deflated balloon that had just lost all of its air.
''Bro-brother Shun, you- don't tell me that you don't know who my senior sister is.''
Shun Long looked at him and answered matter-of-factly as he nodded his head
''Mm. Never heard of her before.''
Yong Ru felt like an arrow had just pierced his heart as he said
''Then brother Shun, let me explain. My senior sister, Jiao Mingxia is a very strong 'ice-element' cultivator and she is probably the strongest out of everyone else in this sect exam. I'm not looking down on you brother Shun, but you are probably not a match for my senior sister at all.
Aside from my senior sister though, there are 2 more people that you must be wary of brother.
One of them is the son of the sect master from the 'Iron-hardened sect', people call him the little giant, Da Chong. You probably saw him when sect master Da Chao was arguing with the Grand Elder of the 'Flying sword sect' when we were at the Demonic Mountain Region's entrance. It is rumored that Da Chong is a body-refining cultivator, as well as the person with the strongest physical strength in this sect exam.
The last of the 3 is the grandson of the Grand Elder from the 'Flying sword sect', Hui Ming. Aside from him being a sword cultivator like most of the disciples in the 'Flying sword sect', I don't have any other information about him.''
As Yong Ru finished speaking, little Black's voice was heard inside Shun Long's head
''Master, sword cultivators are usually extremely proficient in attacking techniques as well as in swiftly killing their opponents. I guess that the reason why people don't know much about this Hui Ming is so he can keep his trump cards hidden.''
Shun Long nodded his head as he was now interested in meeting these 3 people. One of them was the woman who Yong Ru called the strongest in this sect exam. Although Shun Long didn't take his words to heart, there must still be something special in this woman for Yong Ru to say something like that.
The other one was a strong body-refining cultivator just like Shun Long, while the last one was the strongest sword cultivator from the 'Flying sword sect' that was participating in this exam.
Yong Ru then continued
''Aside from brother Shun, your floating cloud sect must have some peak rank 3 earth grade cultivators as well, but none of them is a match for those 3 that I just mentioned. Brother Shun even though I know you are strong, you can not take those 3 lightly.''
Shun Long walked towards Yong Ru and patted him on the shoulder as he said
''Thank you''
Heading deeper towards the inner region, the 2 didn't meet with any more surprises on the way. Apart from the magic beasts that were at the early rank 2 and needed some effort from Shun Long to get killed, the rest of their journey was easy.
On the fifth day, Shun Long and Yong Ru arrived in front of a huge plains area.
There were almost 20 people, forming 3 different groups, all of them being disciples of the 4 sects.
As the 2 walked in, everyone had turned their heads to observe the newcomers.
The people who had already managed to arrive here, were all in the earth grade, with some of them having already reached the peak of rank 3.
Yong Ru looked at Shun Long as he said
''Brother Shun, we are now in the inner region. This is the safe area where most disciples in the earth grade will gather. As we came too early, it is relatively empty, that's why we don't see many people here.
But in the next 5 to 10 days, this place will surely get crowded as no one will want to miss the opportunity to absorb the qi from the central mountain.''
Shun Long's eyes were focused ahead, deeper inside the Demonic Mountain region, as he could faintly make out the shadow of a few huge mountain peaks, when little Black's voice was heard in his head
''Master! I am certain that there is an extraordinary treasure in this Demonic Mountain Region!''
Shun Long nodded his head as he responded to little Black
''I had guessed so as well. The qi around us has more than doubled in density and purity, compared to when we were on the outskirts a few days ago. I assume that the deeper inside we head, the purer the qi we absorb will be, all the way until we reach the central mountain.''
''You are right master. But this won't be an easy journey for us.
Master, you should probably leave that Yong Ru fellow here. He will only become a burden to us later on and there is a high chance that he may die as we head deeper inside.''
At the same time, Yong Ru's voice was heard as he looked at Shun Long and asked
''Brother Shun, how about we stay here in this place, while we wait for the qi eruption to start?''
Shun Long however, shook his head as he replied
''Brother it's better if we part ways here for now. I'm going to enter deeper inside the inner region.''
Yong Ru's eyes widened as he asked in a trembling voice
''Brother Sh-un.. are you serious? It is too dangerous to wander around the inner region.''
Shun Long looked at Yong Ru as he nodded his head and said
''I have my reasons for heading deeper in the inner region. Although it is dangerous, this is something that I have to do.''
Yong Ru gritted his teeth as he said
''I will follow you then brother.''
72
Yong Ru gritted his teeth as he said
''I will follow you then brother.''
Shun Long shook his head after he heard Yong Ru's words and said
''It's better if I go alone. We should part ways for now and meet again after the qi eruption of the central mountain ends.''
Yong Ru sighed in his heart as he understood that he would be a burden with his strength if he followed Shun Long in the inner region. He was barely of any help while they were traveling through the outer region.
He then took a deep breath as he said to Shun Long
''Brother Shun you have to be careful. The inner region is extremely dangerous and there are many rank3 beasts here.''
Shun Long nodded his head as he responded
''I know. Let's meet again after the central mountain's eruption then.''
After parting ways, Shun Long headed deeper inside the inner region. Everyone sitting in the safe area turned their heads to look at him as he was leaving and started discussing between themselves
''Who is this guy? He dares to enter the inner region by himself?''
''Seems like he came together with senior brother Yong.''
''So what? Isn't he just a normal disciple from the 'floating cloud sect'?''
''That's right, the 'floating cloud sect' doesn't have anyone at the same level as our senior sister anyway. Even our senior sister didn't dare to walk alone inside the inner region.''
''Exactly! Does this guy think that he is at the same level as the 3 geniuses? He will certainly die for overestimating himself!''
Discussions were taking place between the 3 groups that were stationed in the safe area but Shun Long completely ignored them as he walked forward.
If other people headed deeper inside the inner region, they would surely be suicidal no matter how big their group was, if they were just rank 3 earth grade cultivators. However, Shun Long was different. He had a trump card to rely on that could take care of the magic beasts in the inner region.
After traveling forward for a bit more than the time it takes to drink a cup of tea (this is approximately 10-15mins), Shun Long had already left the safe area far behind him when little Black's voice sounded in his head
''Master, I can sense two rank 3 magic beasts. One of them is 17 miles towards the west while the other one is 23 miles to our south.''
''Let's go towards the west first since it is closer. Do you sense any humans anywhere near us?''
''No master, there are only magic beasts here. If there are any humans, then they must be more than 30 miles away from us for me to be unable to sense them.''
''Good, then let's go!''
Shun Long said as he summoned little Black from the 'Stone of Time'.
Although Shun Long hadn't summoned him when he was in the outskirts, that was because there were far too many disciples there while there were barely any threats to Shun Long's life, aside from beasts like the 'Double-headed fish' or the 'Iron-winged eagle'.
But the inner region was different. The magic beasts here were all far stronger than what Shun Long could handle alone, while the human groups were practically non-existent, and with little Black's powerful soul, sensing their surroundings Shun Long didn't have many things to worry about.
A 3m(10ft) tall black dragon had then appeared in front of him. Little Black stretched his head as Shun Long climbed on his neck, and sitting on his back he said
''Let's go!''
Little Black spread his majestic black wings as he soared from the ground heading directly towards the west.
A huge gust of air hit the ground as the black dragon flapped his wings soaring in the sky, causing every magic beast that sensed his aura to immediately prostrate themselves. Dragons were after all, kings among magic beasts.
Shun Long was enjoying the view, as well as the feeling of flying, while he was sitting on top of little Black's back, and in a very short time they had arrived outside a small cave.
The cave was about 2m(6.5ft) in height but it was wide enough for 3 people to walk inside it side by side.
screech
As soon as little Black and Shun Long arrived outside of the cave, a screeching sound was heard, as a swarm of black bats flew towards them.
Roar
Little Black opened his mouth as he roared towards the swarm of black bats that were attacking them from the cave.
As the sound of this roar hit the bats, all of them crashed into the ground with blood flowing from their ears. More than 20 rank 2 bats had directly died from a single roar.
A black shadow flew from the cave as it directly tried to escape through the air.
''It's actually a middle rank 3 'red-fanged flame bat'! Little Black quickly, don't let it escape!''
''Don't worry master, how could it ever escape from us?''
Little Black flapped his wings and the distance from the bat was immediately halved.
The 'red-fanged flame bat' was a magic beast at the middle stages of rank 3, but as soon as it had sensed little Black's aura outside its cave, it was instantly terrified as it fled without a second thought. The aura of a dragon, a king of magic beasts was one of the most terrifying things to every living being.
Forget about a middle stage rank 3 magic beast like the 'red-fanged flame bat', little Black could probably fight against even a middle stage rank 4 magic beast right now, and he would only get stronger in the future as he recovers his strength.
In almost no time, Shun Long and little Black had arrived above the 'flame bat's' head as little Black used his talons to grab the bat's wings.
The bat screeched loudly as little Black brutally tore its wings from its body, making it crash on the ground.
A small pool of blood had formed beneath the bat's body while it was still struggling to move and escape from this monster that was chasing it.
Little Black's talons landed on the bat's neck that was now on the ground, as it brutally teared off its head. Finally, the bat stopped breathing as a pitch-black core rolled off from its now torn head into the ground.
Shun Long fiddled with the beast core in his hand for a while before putting it inside the 'Stone of Time's' space along with the bat's body. Although the 'red fanged flame bat's' body wasn't edible, parts of it could still be used as ingredients for alchemy, while its fangs could be used by formation masters to create silver grade weapons.
Aside from the 'red fanged flame bat' there was still that swarm of rank 2 bats that could be sold for a good price in the 'Treasure Pavilion'. Although rank 2 magic beasts rarely had a beast core in their bodies, the rest of their body parts would usually fetch a good price.
After Shun Long put everything inside the 'Stone of Time', he walked towards the cave that the bats were living in.
Little Black looked at his master, but his own body was too big to enter the small cave so he couldn't help asking
''Master, do you think that there will be anything good inside this cave?''
''Although the chance is minimal, the truth is that when the 'red fanged flame bat' inhabits a cave, the powerful yin qi that it oozes from its body will sometimes be absorbed into its surroundings to produce rare alchemy materials. One of those materials is the rank 3 'hell flower'.''
Shun Long remembered that Yong Ru needed this flower for his grandfather.
However, after searching the cave, Shun Long was confused as well as a bit disappointed to not having found anything of use. Apparently, the 'red fanged flame bat's' qi hadn't produced anything inside the cave.
After Shun Long failed to find anything inside, he left the cave as he climbed atop little Black's back before he pondered for a while
''I don't understand. I could sense some yin qi inside the cave, but it was very faint both in quality and quantity. Unless the bats had started living in this cave today, the yin qi here shouldn't have been so faint. However, based on their sheer numbers, it's impossible for them to have migrated here today.
Little Black, can you sense anything?''
Shun Long was truly perplexed this time and his senses weren't strong enough to understand what was going on so his only option was asking little Black.
The black dragon closed his eyes as he sensed his surroundings for a long time. After that, he abruptly opened his eyes with an unfathomable glint inside them as he looked towards Shun Long and once again said telepathically
''Master... you were right. There should have been enough yin qi in the air to create some precious medicinal herbs but...''
After that little Black turned his head to look outside of the cave as he continued
''...it's all been sucked away!''
Shun Long's eyes widened as he looked at little Black incredulously before asking
''Can you sense who is sucking away the yin qi then?''
''Master... it's not just the yin qi here. Aside from the pure qi in the air, every other kind of qi in the surrounding 30 miles, is all being sucked deeper inside towards the central region!''
73
A chill run through Shun Long's spine as he heard little Black's words.
What kind of existence did it have to be, to be able to absorb every kind of energy, and from so many miles away?
''Something is wrong. No matter what kind of magic beast it is, as long as it hasn't reached an extremely high rank, it shouldn't be able to absorb every other kind of energy like the yin qi from the 'red fanged flame bat' while being so far away.''
Shun Long surmised after thinking about it thoroughly.
''Master is right. Even if I wanted to absorb the yin qi here, I wouldn't be able to do this from more than 1 mile away and I am a black Dragon. I refuse to believe that there is a peak rank 5 magic beast inside this Demonic Mountain Region that would do this.''
Shun Long nodded his head at Little Black's words as he said
''We will find out everything when we enter the central region so, there is no need to worry about it just yet. It's time to go towards the south.''
The black dragon stretched his majestic pitch-black wings after hearing Shun Long's words, and flew towards the south where he had sensed another rank 3 magic beast earlier before.
His flying speed was extremely fast, bringing a sense of horror to the magic beasts that saw a black dragon flying in the sky as they hurriedly cowered away inside their nests and caves.
Little Black and Shun Long quickly arrived in front of a small forest.
Little Black's speed didn't decrease at all as he headed towards one of the tallest trees in the distance.
The tree was green and more than 8m(26ft) tall but its branches had a bright yellow color towards their ends that resembled flower petals.
Shun Long's eyes glinted while little Black opened his mouth and spat out a black ball of fire towards the tree.
The tree immediately turned to black ashes as a small green beast core could be found inside them.
Little Black snorted disdainfully after reducing the tree to ashes and said
''Just an early rank 3 'man-eating tree' and it thought that it would escape my senses?''
Shun Long grabbed the beast core of the 'man-eating tree' and after storing it inside the 'Stone of Time' he asked little Black if he could sense any other rank 3 magic beasts around them.
The pair of the young man riding his dragon flew non-stop as they relentlessly hunted every rank 3 magic beasts they found in their vicinity.
After almost one day of hunting, Shun Long's spatial space had been filled with all sorts of rank 3 beasts. Most of these magic beasts could easily kill Heaven grade experts as easily as killing chickens and yet, Shun Long's spatial space had nearly a dozen of them now.
Little Black looked at his smiling master that was now collecting the body of a rank 3 magic beast they had just killed, and he too smiled as he looked in the distance ahead of them, towards the central region before he sent a message to Shun Long
''Master, we are now very close to the central region. If there is a chance, we should also hunt an early rank 4 magic beast!''
As little Black finished speaking however he saw that Shun Long's eyes had turned serious as he said resolutely
''No''
Little Black looked at Shun Long puzzledly as he said
''Master, won't the body of a rank 4 magic beast be of great help? Although it may prove a bit hard to kill one, I am still more than 80 percent certain of being able to kill any early rank 4 beast with my current strength. We have nothing to worry about and even if the rumored peak rank 4 magic beast from the central mountain comes, we can still flee then. Even if it is some kind of aerial flying beast it will certainly be unable to match me in terms of speed.''
Little Black's words were spoken with absolute confidence.
Shun Long however shook his head as he replied
''Although the body of a rank 4 beast would be of tremendous help to me, there is something even more important in this Demonic Mountain Region for us. Additionally, if you fight with a rank 4 magic beast, even if you swiftly kill it you will certainly attract the attention of even stronger magic beasts. The central region isn't the inner region after all and I assume that there are more than just 'a few' rank 4 magic beasts inside.
Before we find out about the treasure of the central mountain, we can't attract the attention of the strong magic beasts in the central region.''
Little Black didn't speak anymore as Shun Long walked in front of him and patted his head as continued
''Don't worry, after we find out what the secret of the central mountain is, we may still have time to hunt a rank 4 magic beast.''
After Shun Long finished speaking he noticed that it was almost night time by now.
After hunting magic beasts for the entire day, Shun Long had already arrived just a few dozen miles away from the central region. After finding a secluded cave in a mountain peak close by, he had little Black ensure that there were no magic beasts around them before he started cultivating.
Taking a deep breath inside the cave Shun Long felt the qi around him madly rushing towards him.
''The quality of the qi here is truly much better compared to the outer region. Perhaps I can even breakthrough to the middle stage of rank 8 tonight.''
Sitting cross-legged in the middle of the cave, Shun Long circulated the 'Monarch's Hourglass' as he absorbed the pure qi in this place. Little Black was also cultivating, but he hadn't entered a state where he was unable to sense his surroundings like Shun Long and was instead keeping watch of their surroundings at all times.
3 hours soon passed and a small popping sound could be heard from Shun Long's body as he then opened his eyes and exclaimed joyously
''I managed to reach the middle stage of rank 8 in qi condensation in such a short amount of time. Just 3 hours of cultivating here is more efficient than 5 full days of cultivation in the outer region!''
Taking advantage of the opportunity to cultivate in tthis place, Shun Long quickly closed his eyes as he once again activated the 'Monarch's Hourglass', absorbing the qi around him.
Morning soon came and as the sun rose Shun Long finally stopped cultivating.
After stretching his hands and feet for a while he walked out of the cave and patted Little Black's head as he said
''Little Black, when we enter the central region, it's better for you to stay in the 'Stone of Time'.''
The dragon's eyes widened as he heard this and anxiously he asked
''Master it is too dangerous for you. What if you-?''
Shun Long patted his head as he said
''I know. But it's also dangerous if you are exposed. We could do as we please in the inner region but if the magic beasts in the central region turn their attention towards us, then the best we can do will be to flee by then.''
Shun Long saw the dejected dragon as he said
''Don't worry, if I really get in a dangerous situation, you can always come out and help me.''
Little Black nodded his head as he went inside the 'Stone of Time' before he used his powerful soul to sense Shun Long's surroundings.
Shun Long had 3 major advantages that gave him enough confidence to walk by himself towards the central region that was now just a few dozen miles away from him.
The first was little Black's soul sensing which could warn him for most dangers beforehand.
The second was the 'Monarch's Eternal body' that had both increased his physical strength and his ability to tear space and escape a few dozen meters away.
Shun Long was also certain that after refining the 'Profound Earth Fruit' into a pill, his 'Monarch's Eternal body' would become a lot stronger.
''If I concoct and consume the pill before the 'sect examination' ends, by the time I finish absorbing the pill's medicinal effects, I would have probably already run out of time to gather enough survival points to first place.''
However, the third and most important advantage that he had, was the 'Monarch's Hourglass' ability to completely conceal his aura. As long as he was careful enough, he could probably avoid most of the dangers as he explored the central region.
After more than 2 hours, Shun Long had arrived precisely 300 miles away from the tallest mountain in the Demonic Mountain Region, the central mountain.
The central mountain was nearly 10.000meters (32.800ft) tall while the 300 miles around it was what everyone categorized as 'the central region'.
Shun Long took a deep breath to calm his rising heartbeat as he looked at the central mountain, and taking a step forward, he finally entered the central region.