Seeing that the look on the middle-aged man's face had started to turn ugly, a furious expression appeared on Zhao Lan's face as he then asked
''Don't tell me that he got captured by one of those idiots who surrounded the inn! Who was it?''
Feeling the berserk aura around Zhao Lan growing stronger, the middle-aged man's face paled, before he hurriedly shook his head and responded with an awkward tone
''Lord Zhao, you are mistaken. That kid wasn't captured!
It is just that... he seemed to have disappeared!''
Zhao Lan was dumbfounded when he heard the middle-aged man's answer, while the berserk aura around him immediately dispersed.
''Disappeared?''
When he had heard about what happened in Shun Long's courtyard from the middle-aged man, Zhao Lan had expected for Shun Long to come to the 'Alchemists' Guild' begging for help.
Perhaps, if Zhao Lan was lucky, he could have convinced Shun Long to accept being groomed by the 'Alchemists' Guild' as well.
But he somehow seems to have disappeared?
''How?''
Zhao Lan asked the middle-aged man, in a voice that didn't hide his confusion.
Shaking his head the middle-aged man responded seriously
''Lord Zhao, nobody knows what happened, but old man Yuhan from the 'Golden Exchange firm' and Huang Bao from the 'Mercenaries' Association', only found an empty courtyard when they arrived at the inn.
Even the rank 6 magic beast seemed to have disappeared into thin air!''
This time, Zhao Lan's confusion turned into visible shock.
How could an early rank 6 magic beast disappear under the soul sensing of 2 middle-stage Dao Kings?
At the same time that Zhao Lan was interrogating the middle-aged man in front of him, an hour had already passed since Shun Long and Liu Mei had entered the Netherspirit forest.
Liu Mei had already summoned her skeletons, which seemed to have formed a defensive line around her and Shun Long, while they fought off the creatures that attacked them from time to time.
These creatures were called Netherspirit corpses, and had bony limbs with little to no flesh on them, and would come in various shapes and sizes.
Some of them seemed humanoid and were at most 1.9m(6.2ft) tall, while others had the shape of different magic beasts, and their height was more than 4m(13ft) tall.
The Netherspirit corpses were the corpses of cultivators or magic beasts that had died inside the Netherspirit forest.
So far, the strongest Netherspirit corpse that had attacked Shun Long and Liu Mei was only at the rank 5 of Heaven grade.
As for Liu Mei's jade-white skeletons, since Liu Mei had broken through to the peak of rank 1 in the Spirit realm, their strength had also advanced to the middle of rank 1 in the Spirit realm as well.
Forget about a rank 5 Heaven grade Netherspirit corpse, even a middle rank 2 Spirit realm cultivator would be doomed, facing off against 100 middle rank 1 Spirit realm opponents.
As they headed deeper inside the forest however, the strength of the Netherspirit corpses continued to rise.
2 hours later, the average strength of the corpses had already reached the late-stages of the Heaven grade, and even peak rank 9 Heaven grade corpses weren't uncommon.
One more hour soon passed, when Spirit realm corpses had finally started to appear.
Shun Long's and Liu Mei's speed had started to slow down as they advanced further inside, but Shun Long didn't move to help the skeletons.
Instead, Liu Mei's 6 undead knights whose strength was also at the peak rank 1 of the Spirit realm, started to fight against the Netherspirit corpses as well.
Half an hour later, Liu Mei no longer held back, as she summoned 100 more of her jade-white skeletons, along with 6 more undead knights.
This was the current limit of the undead creatures that Liu Mei could summon, and although she didn't need to actively use spiritual strength in order to control them, keeping so many creatures active at the same time, drained both her spiritual strength as well as her qi.
After all, for each skeleton and undead knight that she had summoned, Liu Mei had to expend a small portion of her spiritual strength and qi in order for them to fight.
Shun Long's and Liu Mei's speed once again increased with the added manpower of the new skeletons and the undead knights.
Even the rank 2 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpses were taken care of extremely quickly, under Liu Mei's undead creatures' combined strength.
Half an hour later however, the first rank 3 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpse had appeared.
Seeing that Liu Mei's skeletons couldn't hold up any longer, and were getting destroyed under the early rank 3 Spirit realm corpse's attacks, Shun Long pointed at the Netherspirit corpse with his left hand and activated the 'Thunderbolt finger'.
The humanoid Netherspirit corpse screamed once it felt the power of the lightning hitting its body, before it turned into a wisp of black smoke that dispersed in the air.
1 more hour passed, and Shun Long and Liu Mei had already traveled halfway through the forest, when suddenly, a huge roar was heard from the distance ahead of them.
Roarr
Trees were mowed down one after the other while even the earth below Shun Long's feet had started to shake, as the Netherspirit corpse of a magic beast that was almost 5m(16ft) tall appeared in front of him and Liu Mei.
The magic beast looked like a giant two-headed dog, with rotting flesh on both of its heads, while even the bones on its 2 front legs were a black color.
Liu Mei's body instinctively tensed up when she sensed the powerful death aura coming from the two-headed dog's body.
The look in Shun Long's eyes had also turned serious as he looked at the Netherspirit corpse in front of him, before he turned his head to look at Liu Mei and said
''Mei'er, step back. You can't help here!''
Indeed, Liu Mei knew that her skeletons and even the undead knights would be useless here.
After all, the death qi coming from the two-headed dog had already realready reached the peak of rank 5 in the Spirit realm!
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Nodding her head, Liu Mei took a few steps back, allowing Shun Long to face off against the Netherspirit corpse of the two-headed dog.
Circulating the 'Monarch's Hourglass', Shun Long activated his second 'Monarch's Domain', as a blue-colored light covered his body.
At the same time, his eyes had once again turned golden as he stared at the Netherspirit corpse of the magic beast in front of him.
Roarr
The two-headed dog roared loudly and destroyed everything in its way as it headed towards Shun Long.
Shun Long's eyes narrowed as he stared at the magic beast in front of him, as he mumbled to himself
''Time Prison!''
A blue light appeared in his golden eyes, and Shun Long could feel more than 40 percent of his qi being sapped almost instantly, as time around the two-headed dog forcibly came to a halt.
However, the effect of the 'Time Prison' didn't even last for a single breath of time, before the peak rank 5 Spirit realm Netherspirit corpse broke free from the time constraints.
''It looks like the difference in cultivation is too big even for my 'Time Prison'!'' Shun Long thought to himself as he looked at the beast in front of him.
However, he didn't feel dejected after seeing that the 'Time Prison' had failed, since he had already expected for his early rank 1 Spirit realm cultivation to be ineffective against the peak rank 5 Spirit realm two-headed dog.
After all, the Netherspirit corpse of the two-headed dog was only slightly weaker than a middle rank 4 magic beast.
Activating the Gale steps, Shun Long's body turned into a gust of wind as he shot towards the two-headed dog.
Surprisingly, although its body was huge, the two-headed dog was extremely agile, as it seemed to have predicted Shun Long's trajectory and waved its bony claw towards him.
Seeing that the dog had raised its bony claw and was sending it towards him, Shun Long's golden eyes lit up, as another scene flashed through his eyes.
The bony black claw tore through the air and was about to collide with Shun Long's chest, when Shun Long suddenly mumbled to himself
'Blink'
A bright purple light had appeared around Shun Long's body, as it abruptly disappeared and reappeared above the dog's left head.
The two-headed dog's black claw hit nothing but thin air, but a powerful shockwave traveled towards Liu Mei's direction.
The 12 undead knights immediately moved forward, taking a defensive stance as they all tried to block the powerful shockwave.
At the same time, Liu Mei took out the 'Four seasons azure sword' from her spatial ring, and sent a flying slash forward.
This was just the aftershock from a swipe of the two-headed dog, and yet, 10 undead knights were obliterated in an instant, before the shockwave met with Liu Mei's slash and the other 2 undead knights who were standing in front of her.
The 2 last undead knights barely managed to remain standing, as their greatswords managed to disperse the remaining power of the two-headed dog's shockwave.
At the same time, Shun Long had taken out the 'Purple Blossom staff' from the 'Stone of Time', and holding it with both hands, he swung it down at full-force, towards the back of the two-headed dog's left head.
The 'Monarch's Eternal body's' full force was gathered in Shun Long's hands, as the 'Purple Blossom staff' landed on the dog's head.
BOOM
As soon as it met the 'Purple Blossom staff's attack, the remaining flesh on the dog's head exploded, along with a bunch of its black bones.
Surprisingly, its defense couldn't hold out against Shun Long's full-powered blow, as almost half of its left head exploded on the spot.
The two-headed dog didn't seem to feel any pain however, and as its right head looked at Shun Long, the dog opened its mouth as it tried to bite Shun Long's body with its jaws.
Even with the early fourth stage of the 'Monarch's Eternal body', Shun Long knew that he would probably suffer serious injuries if he took the dog's attack head-on.
Although its defense wasn't great, judging from the aftershock of the bony claw, the dog's offense was nothing to scoff at.
Looking at the dog's right head that was coming towards him, Shun Long didn't dodge this time, and instead. he gripped the 'Purple Blossom staff' tightly with both hands. as he also shot forward.
With the increased speed from the second 'Monarch's Domain', Shun Long's speed was actually slightly faster than the two-headed dog's.
Looking at the half-rotten head of the Netherspirit corpse that was charging towards him, Shun Long waved the 'Purple Blossom staff' as it collided with the dog's jaws.
BOOM
As soon as the 'Purple Blossom staff' met the dog's jaws, both Shun Long and the two-headed dog were sent flying backwards.
Shun Long's body was sent flying for more than 30 meters, until it collided with a large tree and it finally stopped.
There were no visible injuries on his body, but the force from the two-headed dog's attack had actually brought pain to his internal organs.
The two-headed dog however was in an even more miserable condition.
Shun Long's attack had sent it flying for more than 100 meters until it finally crashed on the ground.
Its lower jaw had been sent flying from its mouth, leaving its rotten insides completely exposed.
Without hesitating, Shun Long charged at the two-headed dog once again.
Gathering the power of the 'Monarch's Eternal body' in his arms, Shun Long brought down the 'Purple Blossom staff' at full-force, as he aimed at the Netherspirit corpse's head once again.
The two-headed dog raised its right head as it tried to bite Shun Long for the second time, but it didn't seem to have realized that its lower jaw was missing.
BOOM
A horrifying explosion sounded for the second time, as the 'Purple Blossom staff' hit the two-headed dog's right head directly.
The head immediately exploded into a pile of rotten flesh and bones that fell on the ground.
Without its second head as support, the rest of the two-headed dog collapsed on the ground as well, before it started to turn into a pile of black smoke.
Although Liu Mei wasn't a soft person, the moment that she saw the gruesome sight of rotten flesh piling on the ground, she couldn't help taking a step back in disgust.
This sight was completely different from her undead creatures after all.
Looking at the beast in front of him that was finally defeated, Shun Long nodded his head before he flew next to Liu Mei.
After Liu Mei used her qi to resurrect 4 of her 10 destroyed undead knights, the 2 of them continued to walk deeper inside the Netherspirit forest.
However, the deeper inside the forest that they went, the stronger the Netherspirit corpses became.
Looking at a Netherspirit corpse that was at the late stage of the Spirit realm and was approaching Shun Long and Liu Mei threateningly, Shun Long shook his head and looked at Liu Mei who barely had 30 percent of her qi left, before he said
''I suppose that this is our limit. With so many Netherspirit corpses, forget about us, even a late stage Spirit realm cultivator would be in trouble.''
Liu Mei watched Shun Long who then waved his right hand, as a 6m(20ft) tall black panther with shining silver wings and yellow eyes appeared in front of them.
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Liu Mei was stunned when she saw that the black panther had grown to almost 3 times its previous size, while the terrifying aura coming from its body was many times stronger than before.
After sensing the panther's aura, Liu Mei's eyes widened slightly, before she turned her head to look at Shun Long and asked in a shocked tone
''Long-ge, did it really breakthrough to the rank 6?''
It wasn't that Liu Mei was unwilling to believe that the black panther had broken through to the rank 6 this time, but this was just too shocking to her.
In comparison to Little Black's breakthrough 2 months ago, who had just broken through from the peak of rank 5 to the early rank 6, Liu Mei knew the black panther ever since she and Shun Long had left Cui Guoliang's palace half a year ago.
When they had left the palace, the black panther was just an early rank 5 magic beast, but just half a year later, it had already broken through to the early rank 6.
Even for Liu Mei who had seen Shun Long do countless impossible things, this was still something unbelievable.
In the past, back when she was still an inner disciple of the 'floating cloud sect', Liu Mei had also felt confident that she could reach the Spirit realm by herself as well. But in the past half a year, her view of the world had expanded, and she had seen things and places that she had never even heard of before.
When she thought back to her father who was just a rank 3 Spirit realm expert for so many years, complicated emotions filled Liu Mei's heart.
When she thought of her mother however, who was still stuck inside the 'floating cloud sect', married to a person who doesn't seem to have any feelings for her, a feeling of sadness suddenly overcame her.
Shun Long seemed to have sensed Liu Mei's agitated emotions, but he simply smiled at her in response.
Seeing the hazy look in her black eyes, Shun Long understood that Liu Mei was in a state of reminiscence.
He had also seen this look in Little Black's eyes every time that he spoke about the past.
The difference was, that the gaze inside Little Black's eyes was always filled with pride and excitement, for his and Shun Long's past experiences, as well as a feeling of familial love when the black dragon looked at Shun Long.
After all, Little Black truly regarded Shun Long as his only family and the most important person in his life.
In comparison, a feeling of sadness had filled Liu Mei's eyes right now as she thought of her past.
It was sadness that she felt for her mother, and it was also something that she wanted to change.
She had vowed to take her mother from the 'floating cloud sect' and give her a better life once she became stronger.
However, the feeling of sadness had only appeared in Liu Mei's eyes for a brief while, before she quickly shook her head and looked back at Shun Long.
Although her life had been bleak in the past, the last half a year had been the best part of her entire life.
After a horrible past, where her brother tried to marry her off to anyone who fancied her and had a high status, while her father didn't care for anyone else but her own brother, Liu Mei had not only finally felt love in her life, but she also felt a feeling of protection every time that she was standing next to Shun Long.
Deep in her heart, Shun Long's figure was standing proudly above everyone else.
Seeing that Liu Mei had returned to her senses, Shun Long wrapped his arm around her waist, before he jumped on top of the black panther's back.
The panther roared in excitement, while the powerful aura of an early rank 6 magic beast exploded from its body.
Its stunning silver wings lit up, as it charged forward in excitement.
The Netherspirit corpses in front of the 'Silver-winged panther king' were like a group of mantises trying to stop a chariot as they stood in its path.
The black panther easily destroyed every single Netherspirit corpse that appeared in front of it, including the late-stage Spirit realm corpse in the distance, before it continued flying forward.
More and more Netherspirit corpses appeared on the way, and an hour later, the black panther had traveled so deep inside the forest that even some powerful Nascent Soul stage corpses appeared, but in front of the black panther's rank 6 strength, none of them lasted for a single breath of time before they were cut down by its bright silver wings or they were destroyed by its powerful jaws.
One more hour passed, and the black panther had just torn to shreds a pair of peak rank 6 Nascent Soul stage Netherspirit corpses, before it appeared in front of a large lake.
Shun Long was stunned when he saw the lake in front of him, while an eerie feeling had appeared in his heart.
The lake seemed to span for more than 2000 miles, while its dark waters were blacker than ink.
Powerful death qi swirled around the lake, and even if one tried, they wouldn't be able to see anything past the water's surface.
The black panther however didn't stop, and its bright silver wings tore through the air as it flew above the lake.
It only took a few minutes for the silver-winged panther to cross the distance of 1000 miles and appear close to the lake's center, when suddenly, a purple-colored Netherspirit corpse that looked like a 3m(10ft) long fish without eyes shot out from the lake's depths, as it headed for the panther's tail.
A mocking look appeared in the panther's yellow eyes when it saw that the fish's strength was still at the middle of rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
The panther's speed almost doubled as its silver wings shone with a bright silver light, and in practically an instant, the purple-colored fish had already been beheaded.
Shun Long had already expected the scene in front of him, as Little Black had already scanned the lake, and had already confirmed that from the presences lurking inside, even the strongest one was only at the peak rank 9 in the Spirit realm.
After beheading the purple-colored Netherspirit corpse the panther continued to fly forward, and a few minutes later, like a bolt of silver lightning, it had already reached the end of the Netherspirit forest.