Shun Long was holding Liu Mei tightly with one arm and had her chest placed against his own, while with the other arm he was grabbing Little Silver's back, afraid that if he let go, he would be trapped in this place forever.
However, no matter how long he held on for, he could feel the pressure around him that was evergrowing.
This feeling was similar to diving inside a lake, trying to reach the lake's bottom, but the pressure around your body would only grow, while the lake's depths were actually nowhere in sight.
Time continued to pass, and 1 hour later, Shun Long felt himself being completely suffocated under the sandstorm's pressure.
No matter how hard he tried to hold on, he could feel his grip loosening from Little Silver's back, almost as if he was unable to hang on any longer.
Seeing that he had no other choice left, he was about to summon Little Black and have the black dragon cover him with his gigantic black wings, when the pressure around him suddenly disappeared.
Shun Long could feel that he was able to open his eyes again, while at the same time, he could feel a light breeze brushing past his face, almost as if he had entered an entirely different world.
When he opened his eyes, Shun Long's gaze didn't fall on his surroundings, but on Liu Mei who seemed to have already lost consciousness.
Of course, if it wasn't because he was cultivating in the 'Monarch's Eternal body' and had already reached the peak of the fourth stage, Shun Long didn't think that he would have managed to stay conscious either.
Taking out a pill bottle from the 'Stone of Time', he gently parted Liu Mei's lips open, before he placed a 'Sun-healing pill' in her mouth.
Only after verifying that the pill had dissolved into essence and was slowly being absorbed inside Liu Mei's body did he finally heave out in relief before he raised his head to look at his surroundings.
An endless blue sea appeared in Shun Long's eyes, extending far past the horizon, while behind him was the scorching hot desert.
The sharp contrast where the sandstorms suddenly ended and the sea began to appear, was an extremely peculiar, as well as beautiful sight.
''Is this some kind of formation?''
This was the only logical conclusion that Shun Long could come to, that could explain how the terrifying sandstorms suddenly ended, while the calm sea appeared at the same time.
Although Little Black also heard Shun Long's question, it seemed that he wasn't aware of the answer either.
A few minutes later, Liu Mei finally opened her eyes, while her body still hadn't gotten rid of the pain that the sandstorm had caused to her, causing her to still be in pain.
As she regained her consciousness, the sea that extended for thousands of miles instantly appeared in her gaze, before she turned her enchanting eyes that were barely covered by her black robes to look at Shun Long, and asked in a shocked voice
''Long-ge, where are we?''
Pointing at the ever-raging sandstorms behind him Shun Long smiled lightly, and as he continued to hold Liu Mei in his arms he then said
''We just passed the desert.''
After taking a moment to realize what was going on, Liu Mei nodded her head, before she turned her eyes to observe her surroundings with curiosity in her eyes.
At the same time, Shun Long took out Cui Guoliang's map from the 'Stone of Time' and spread it in front of him.
He knew that this Dao King and his wife, were both trapped somewhere inside this sea.
Although Shun Long had 'promised' Cui Guoliang that he would come and save him only after he became a Dao King, it was very likely that he and Liu Mei would already be in the central region by then, and returning back to the 'Night star continent' may not be that easy.
Additionally, since matters had changed with Duan Zhu stirring up the entire 'Night star continent' by entering the depths of the 'Dragon Lord's villa', Shun Long decided to take this chance and check Cui Guoliang's condition.
''Of course, as long as I don't have to put myself, Mei'er, or Little Silver at danger, and things are really the way that Cui Guoliang described them to be, then I don't mind saving him in passing.''
After making up his mind, Shun Long turned his eyes towards the beast skin map in his hands, before he focused on the large X mark that wasn't too far from where the desert ended.
''According to Cui Guoliang's directions, the place where he is trapped in, is near an isolated island that is covered by snow, not too far away from this area.''
After taking a few moments to verify his approximate location, Shun Long first took a look at the calm sea waves around him, before he had Little Silver fly towards his southeast.
Of course, there was no way that Shun Long or Liu Mei would believe, that this sea was really as calm as it seemed to be on the surface.
If Cui Guoliang and his wife were really trapped somewhere inside this place, then this is more than enough to prove, that even Dao Kings will face danger here.
After all, in the end, Little Silver was only a an early rank 6 magic beast that was as strong as a rank 3 Dao King!
Although Shun Long was confident that it could beat most early stage Dao Kings, it wouldn't necessarily be much stronger than Cui Guoliang and his wife!
Half an hour soon passed as Little Silver continued to fly forward, when a number of islands appeared in the distance ahead.
As the black panther approached closer, Shun Long could finally see clearly the appearance of these islands!
There were 5 islands that looked like they had been intentionally placed next to each other, the biggest of which was almost as big as the 'Silver sword city' itself, while the smallest one was actually even smaller than a single city in the mortal world.
However, each island was completely different from the others.
The first island was actually filled with thunderclouds gathering in the sky above it, while the second island right next to it was like a paradise.
The only thing that these islands had in common, was that there were absolutely no traces of humans or magic beasts living on them.
As he stared at the islands in front of him, Shun Long's gaze was suddenly focused on the fourth island.
Unlike the other islands around it, it was the only island that was actually covered in snow!
Liu Mei's gaze followed Shun Long's, as her eyes soon fell on the island that was covered with snow as well.
She clearly remembered that according to the map that Shun Long had, Cui Guoliang was trapped somewhere near this place.
And yet, Shun Long only stared at the island for a few moments, before his eyes turned to look at the sea below it.
This was the place where Cui Guoliang was trapped inside!
Shun Long thought seriously for a few moments, and in the end, he didn't have Little Silver dive inside the sea right away, but instead, he turned his head to look at Liu Mei, before he said with a light smile on his face
''Mei'er give me your robes.''
