The room behind the door was filled with nothing but darkness, without a piece of furniture or anything else in sight.
After a moment of deliberation, Shun Long took a step forward and entered inside a moment later.
However, the moment that he stepped foot inside the room, Shun Long heard another loud rumbling sound coming from behind him, as the heavy door of the room automatically closed by itself, blocking off what little light tried to enter the room from the outside.
Inside the darkness that had now almost completely filled the room, Shun Long wasn't even able to see his own fingers.
There was only a very dim light coming from the door itself, which Shun Long assumed was thanks to his 5.000 middle-grade spirit stones.
Of course, even if he couldn't see anything using his eyes, he knew that he could still use his soul sense to sense his surroundings.
As expected, after scanning the room with his soul sense, he noticed that it was indeed empty.
Sitting cross-legged on the ground and closing his eyes, Shun Long then fell into deep thought a moment later
''I wonder how the Dao Tower can force 2 people to fight using only their Dao without utilizing their cultivation. Regardless, if this Dao Tower can really allow one to do so, then this will truly be the perfect place for me to advance my comprehension of my Dao of Space.''
Shun Long knew that he was just a step away from advancing to the early fifth stage of his 'Monarch's Eternal body' and that the only thing he required was to breakthrough in his comprehension of the Dao of Space.
However, unlike his Dao of Time, even with the increased affinity that he had for the Dao of Space thanks to his 'Monarch's Eternal body', Shun Long was still unable to breakthrough in the past 2 years that he had spent in the 'Ten thousand beasts' mountain range' and step into the early fifth stage.
Holding the white-colored token that he had received from the receptionist in his left hand, he no longer hesitated as he bit his own finger, causing a bright red droplet of blood to appear and fall on the white token.
Shun Long could instantly feel the token in his hands trying to establish a connection with his own consciousness the moment that it absorbed his drop of blood, but sensing that it was a connection which he could cut off at any moment, Shun Long gritted his teeth before deciding to allow it a moment later.
The moment that the connection was established, he could sense that his pitch-black surroundings had started to change, while a feeling as if he had started to lose control of his own body had also sprouted in his heart.
No, it wasn't that he had lost control of his body. Instead, it was his consciousness that had established the connection with the white token that was making him unable to control his body at this moment.
However, Shun Long quickly calmed down a moment later, as he could still feel that he could simply cut off the connection between himself and his white token any moment that he wished to do so, and everything would instantly go back to normal.
A few moments later, as he opened his eyes, he noticed that his surroundings had completely changed as he found himself standing in the center of a large palace hall.
Looking at his own hands as well as the rest of his body, Shun Long understood that this wasn't his real body but a body made by motes of light instead.
In front of him, he also saw the silhouette of a young man that had started to materialize at the same time.
And yet, Shun Long didn't pay too much attention to the man who had started to appear in front of him, as he stared at his own hands with a look filled with disbelief.
His cultivation seemed to have returned to the early rank 1 of the Heaven grade, but this wasn't the biggest change that he sensed.
Instead, it was the qi inside him that felt completely different from the qi in his body back in the real world.
Shun Long sensed that the qi inside this body that was made by motes of light, was much weaker and circulated much slower compared to his real qi.
When you and your opponent both have your cultivation base restricted at the early rank 1 of the Nascent Soul, while having the same amount of qi inside your bodies as well as the same qi purity, the only difference between the 2 of you would be the martial skills that you know and the Dao that you have comprehended.
However, due to how slowly the qi inside his body was now circulating, Shun Long instantly realized that it was impossible for him to use even Yellow-grade martial skills, let alone Mystic-grade and Saint-grade ones.
It was only at this moment that Shun Long truly realized why the Dao Tower was rumored to test nothing but the Dao that a cultivator has comprehended, while a complicated feeling started to rise in his heart at the same time.
After all, fighting like this was indeed no different than fighting with shackles around your entire body.
And yet, a moment later, Shun Long quickly shook his head, as a look filled with fighting intent appeared inside his eyes before he mumbled to himself
''This is good as well. This place is truly perfect for me to advance my Dao of Space!''
As he came to this conclusion, Shun Long stared at the figure of the young man in front of him that had fully materialized itself as well.
It was a young man dressed in brown robes, with short black hair and a solidly built body. However, Shun Long was unable to discern any details from his face.
Indeed, this was the protection that the Dao Tower offered to its participants.
As long as one wanted to keep their identity hidden, no one could force that person to reveal it.
At that moment, Shun Long saw the young man in front of him take a look at the hall around them before he turned his attention towards him.
Taking a step forward, the young man's foot suddenly stomped on the ground, actually creating a small fissure on the floor of the palace hall.
The fissure rapidly expanded as it moved towards Shun Long, and from the palace's depths, tree branches of various sizes some of them as thin as a person's finger while some of them as thick as a human's thigh emerged from the fissure, as they moved to surround Shun Long, blocking all paths of retreat.
