Chapter 900: Refining the golden skeleton (3)
The air inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time' was completely silent, save for the sole flickering of a certain purple light that was trembling intermittently. Shun Long's purple-colored earth flame had completely enveloped the golden skeleton's figure, fully coating it in its bright, ethereal purple glow.
Unlike the first time that the purple-colored earth flame made contact with the golden skeleton, this time the golden skeleton's energy didn't burst outwards and allowed Shun Long to gradually refine the residual energy inside it.
It was unknown whether the golden skeleton had truly given its consent and allowed Shun Long to make use of its remaining cultivation, or if it simply didn't dare to act up in the presence of the 'Stone of Time' any longer.
Regardless, since the golden skeleton was, ultimately, an ownerless treasure that Shun Long had risked his life to obtain back in the 'King's Palace', there was no way he was going to give up on it so easily.
Still, even without any outside interference, Shun Long's entire face was completely drenched in sweat barely an hour later, as the heat around him soon reached a terrifying degree.
Even with his 'Monarch's Eternal body' that was already in the fifth stage and had already surpassed a peak-stage Nascent Soul realm cultivator, Shun Long could still feel the terrifying heat from the purple-colored earth flame in front of him prickling his skin.
Alchemy required delicate control of fire in order to refine pills, but for the first time in a while, Shun Long was finding it hard to extract the energy of the spiritual treasure in front of him.
And yet, not only did Shun Long not slow down his actions due to this, but he even increased the output of his purple-colored earth flame to the maximum, as the foggy space inside the 'Stone of Time' gradually turned into a massive alchemy furnace, all for the sake of refining the golden skeleton.
...
Several days later.
Shun Long's forehead was fully drenched in sweat, but a satisfied smile could finally be seen on his lips, as he looked at the tiny golden ball of energy that was hovering in front of him.
The golden ball of energy in front of him was only a tiny part of the golden skeleton's cultivation, which he had only managed to extract after 10 whole days of effort, but it was, nevertheless, extremely potent.
Just this tiny ball of energy was enough for an experienced star-rank alchemist to refine more than 2 whole furnaces full of star-rank medicinal pills, which would make practically every single body refiner in the central region drool over their effects!
"Phew!" After gazing at the tiny golden ball in front of him for a few seconds, Shun Long finally let out a long cold breath, before a wave of exhaustion suddenly began to wash over him.
During the past 10 days, Shun Long had depleted his spiritual strength over and over again with barely any breaks, as he pushed the purple-colored earth flame to its limits in order to refine the golden skeleton.
This was why, right now, both his mind and body were feeling extremely strained, and he was only moments away from collapsing.
''It looks like I'll have to take a break before I continue. Little Black, please keep an eye out for Mei'er and the others.''
Shun Long's exhausted voice reverberated inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time' as it entered Little Black's ears.
Then, without waiting for a response from Little Black, Shun Long closed his eyes and lay directly on the ground in front of him, before his breathing quickly turned even, calm, and serene, as he instantly fell asleep.
Although cultivators at the Dao King level could easily recover their spiritual strength through just meditation alone, this time Shun Long's spiritual strength was so spent, and his mind and body were both so drained, that he really felt like getting some good sleep to fully recover!
A day later.
After he opened his eyes, Shun Long's gaze didn't dart around and fell directly on the tiny golden ball in front of him.
Without a doubt, the hardest part was extracting the golden skeleton's energy and refining it until there were no more impurities left inside it.
As for refining a furnace of star-rank pills using it, that was going to be no different from child's play in comparison. Even a furnace full of 1-star pills wouldn't be as mentally taxing to refine as this tiny golden ball of energy!
Without any hesitation, Shun Long then waved his hand, taking out his alchemy furnace, along with a handful of rare rank 7 medicinal herbs, as well as two dozen of rank 6 ones, and arranged them all neatly in front of him, as he prepared to refine the tiny golden ball.
Soon, the thick scent of medicinal herbs filling the air was the only smell present inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', as it continuously assaulted Shun Long's senses.
Time continued to pass, and soon, another year had gone by inside the 'City of Immortals'.
...
Back in the Endless Desert, inside the 'Five-elements protective formation', Jiang Chen and the others had already noticed Shun Long's absence a long time ago, but they all continued to cultivate nevertheless, not daring to waste even a single day in this place!
No matter what, Jiang Chen and the rest all understood, that being inside the 'Five-elements protective formation' and having the opportunity to absorb the pure, immortal qi from the 'Heaven Swallowing vine', was a miraculous opportunity that they had all gotten thanks to Shun Long, and that it may never come again in the future.
This was why they had to take this chance and temper their foundations in the Dao King realm to the extreme while they were still here!
This was why, even if they didn't take so much as a single step out of the 'Endless Desert' and simply continued to cultivate within the 'Five-elements protective formation', Xingyi and the others understood that they wouldn't have lost out at all, in comparison to those people who were out there exploring the 'City of Immortals' in search of fortuitous opportunities!
It was only Liu Mei who had started to get increasingly antsy lately, as a clear frown could be seen on her stunningly beautiful face as she constantly looked around her with a look of worry. Clearly, Shun Long's absence for more than a year now had caused her to become restless and uneasy, unable to even focus on her own cultivation anymore!
However, just as Liu Mei was about to draw everyone's attention and voice out her concern, her mind suddenly buzzed, before a familiar deep voice entered her ears
''Little lass, there is nothing for you to worry about. Master is doing alright. Rather, you should worry about yourself instead! What have been doing for the past year? It's time for you to finally get serious or the other 3 brats will really leave you in the dust by the time you leave this place!''