At the same time that the purple vortex had appeared above the room, Shun Long's eyes abruptly opened inside the foggy place.
Looking at the purple-colored light that his body was emitting, Shun Long's lips slightly curved up.
It was finally time for him to break through to the third stage of body refinement.
The energy inside his body had long since accumulated enough for his breakthrough, that the only thing that Shun Long had been lacking all this time, was comprehension in the Dao of Space.
Thankfully, he had already experienced the feeling of 'touching upon the Dao of Space' once, back when, he and little Black had killed the 'Nine-eyed giant worm' inside the Forest of Giants.
Crack
Crack!
Crack!!!
Shun Long's bones begun to emit cracking sounds, as the 'Monarch's Eternal body' had started circulating by itself.
The familiar pain of having his bones crushed, once again filled his body, followed by his nerves and tendons.
The slow but painful restructuring process seemed to be taking place, every time that Shun Long advanced in the next stage of his body cultivation.
Although he had already experienced this feeling twice, the pain didn't seem to diminish at all, but instead, it was becoming even stronger.
4 hours quickly passed like this, and the small purple vortex above Shun Long's and Liu Mei's room had now expanded beyond their own courtyard.
The residents of the inn were shocked, seeing the purple whirlpool in the air, but with the precedence from half a month ago, they were now even more sure that this was a senior who is cultivating in some kind of secret technique.
''Hahaha! Hey, Jia Wen! Didn't I tell you that this vortex was created by some kind of mysterious technique? What do you have to say now?''
''Shut up 'Old Ting'! I admit that I was wrong but, don't tell me that you didn't think even for a second, that this was the Dao vortex of someone who was breaking through to the Heaven grade!?''
'Old Ting' looked at the middle-aged man in front of him with a disdainful look in his eyes, as he replied
''Tsk tsk tsk... I already told you that it was impossible for that to have been a Dao vortex, brat. Then, do you believe that this is some kind of Dao vortex as well?''
The man named Jia Wen merely shook his head in response, indicating that he was agreeing with his friend.
Even the inn keeper, Deng Zixin, was now staring at the sky above him in confusion.
If the blue vortex from half a month ago, could be attributed to that young man on the black panther having comprehended an extraordinary Dao when he broke through to the Heaven grade, then how could this purple vortex be explained? After all, the white-veiled young woman next to him when they entered the inn, was already a Heaven grade cultivator.
''Could it be, that there really is some powerful senior who is following these 2 pups? But... how strong does he have to be, for me to have actually failed to notice him yet?''
Deng Zixin's eyes suddenly widened, while a terrifying thought flashed through his mind, as he subconsciously stared towards Shun Long's and Liu Mei's courtyard with eyes filled with dread.
2 more hours passed, as the purple-colored whirlpool above Shun Long's room had now expanded throughout the entire inn.
Finally, the massive whirlpool started to shrink, until it condensed itself into a tiny vortex above Shun Long's and Liu Mei's room.
Inside the foggy space, Shun Long's body was lying on the ground, as he repeatedly gasped for breath.
Perspiration had already drenched his forehead, as he did his best to slowly stand up from the ground.
He clearly understood, that his advancement to the third stage in body refinement wouldn't be complete, until the purple-colored vortex entered inside his body.
Shun Long visualized himself leaving the foggy place, as his body returned back to his room.
The purple-colored whirlpool seemed as if it had suddenly found its target, as it rushed to enter inside Shun Long's body.
His aura was now rising at an incredible rate, while the 'Monarch's Eternal body' had finally started to digest all of the mysterious water that he had absorbed along with little Black, from the lake that the 'Nine-eyed giant worm' was living in.
BOOOM
Shun Long could clearly feel his body growing stronger with every drop of water that he absorbed, and barely 10 minutes later, a powerful booming sound was heard from his body, as it reverberated inside the room.
It seemed like the last barrier that was holding Shun Long to the second stage of the 'Monarch's Eternal body', was suddenly destroyed, as he instantly entered the early third stage of body refinement.
Liu Mei who was sitting on the white cushion next to Shun Long's opened her eyes, and a look of joy soon covered her face. She clearly understood that Shun Long had succeeded in his breakthrough.
And yet, the remaining energy inside Shun Long's body was still churning, as the 'Monarch's Eternal body' made him seem like a starved beast that was simply unwilling to stop eating, now that it had finally woken up.
Half an hour later, under Liu Mei's astounded gaze, his body once again exploded with a burst of powerful aura, that swept through everything inside the room.
It seemed as if the 'Monarch's Eternal body', had finished absorbing the water down to its last drop, when Shun Long's aura finally stabilized at the middle of the third stage as he slowly opened his eyes.
Half a month ago, when his body had been forcefully transferred in front of that huge red palace, Shun Long's heart had been overcome with a feeling of urgency.
It was a feeling that stemmed from the depths of his heart, telling him that if he didn't become stronger, then one day he would end up dying.
Shun Long didn't know how many secrets the 'Stone of Time' held, but he had clearly decided that he would do his utmost to become stronger and discover them all.
After all, although it was fortunate that there were no people with malicious intentions near the red palace back then, if a similar situation happened in the future, where Shun Long ended up being teleported somewhere without being able to resist, then it was unknown if he would be able to stay alive or not.
''Since the 'Stone of Time' has already merged with my soul, it's not something that I can simply ignore, and take my time to investigate in the future.''
Taking a deep breath, Shun Long first sorted out his thoughts, before he turned his head to look at the beautiful young woman next to him.
Liu Mei's small mouth was still agape as she stared at him, nearly unable to believe what she had just witnessed.
Shun Long smiled at the stunned Liu Mei, who soon put on a bewitching smile on her face as well.
Seeing that it was still morning, Shun Long stretched his limbs, before he looked at Liu Mei and said with that same smile on his face
''Mei'er, let's go to the Pale Moon guild!''
