Under the respectful gazes of the crowd, Shun Long then walked out of the arena, as he headed back towards the 'Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'.
The disciples in the crowd watched Shun Long's back as he left with eyes full of reverence.
After all, in the 'cultivation world' only one thing was respected...strength.
First, Shun Long had beaten Guan Hong to enter the top 1000, and Lei Pong followed right after him.
After entering the top 200, Shun Long then challenged Xiao Juyan to enter the top 100, and finally, today he had cemented his position in the top 20 by defeating Fu Peizhi.
His name quickly spread throughout the sect, as he was now considered someone on par with the other experts in the top 20 rankings.
After returning to the 'Mystifying Fragrance pavilion', Shun Long paid a waiter for the next 3 months of his room in advance, before once again 'entering seclusion'.
For the next 2 days, he cultivated using the 'Heaven Swallowing vine', while little Black was still sleeping inside the 'Stone of Time'.
Although Shun Long's cultivation hadn't broken through to the peak of rank 4 yet, he was certain that he would do it in the next few days.
At the same time, in these past 2 days Shun Long had felt little Black's strength rapidly rising, and finally, on the third day of his seclusion, a powerful aura erupted from little Black's body inside the 'Stone of Time' as the black dragon opened his bright blue eyes.
''Master!''
Little Black looked happily at Shun Long who was still absorbing the pure qi from the 'Heaven Swallowing vine'.
Shun Long then opened his eyes as he looked at the black dragon who seemed happy and asked
''Did you finish your breakthrough?''
''Indeed master. In terms of magic beast levels, I have reached the middle of rank 4 already. However, my strength right now can easily destroy any spirit realm expert or rank 4 magic beasts.
Shun Long smiled, as he then stood up from his bed and said
''Then let's go.''
As he finished speaking, Shun Long put on his black robes and opened a space tear directly from his room, to a small road 50 meters away from the 'Mystifying Fragrance pavilion'.
''Master, where are we going?''
Little Black asked in a voice full of confusion, after seeing Shun Long immediately leaving his room in his black robes.
Shun Long smiled as he responded
''To the 'mortal world'!''
2 hours later, Shun Long had arrived near the city gates.
Although it was deep into the night, the outer disciples serving us the city guards were still patrolling around the gates.
After all, the 'floating cloud sect' had a rule, that unless a disciple had reached the late stages of the earth grade, they wouldn't be allowed to leave the city. The only exception to this rule would be if a disciple accepted a sect mission.
Shun Long walked close to the city walls, and after making sure that there were no guards in sight, he slashed the air with his left hand, opening a space tear.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long entered inside it, as he then appeared at the other side of the city walls.
After walking for a couple more hours, he had returned back to that invisible barrier, that was dividing the 'cultivation' from the 'mortal world'.
The last time that Shun Long had been here, was a few months ago when he rode on that rank 3 'red-winged condor' and had arrived in the sect for the first time.
More than half a year had passed since he had left the 'Sky Fortune Kingdom'.
Shun Long then summoned little Black from the 'Stone of Time', and after patting the dragon's head he pointed at the barrier in front of them as he said
''After we go through this barrier, we will be entering the 'mortal world'.''
Sitting on little Black's back, Shun Long saw the black dragon grabbing the barrier with his talons and easily ripping it open before he flew inside it.
The moment that they entered inside, Shun Long and little Black saw a sea of clouds in front of them, as they had now returned back to the 'mortal world'.
Little Black's flying speed was extremely fast, and in just a few minutes, they had already arrived on the island that the 'Sky Fortune Kingdom' was located on.
Pointing towards their northeast, Shun Long guided little Black, and less than an hour later they had arrived above the imperial city of the 'Sky Fortune Kingdom'.
Looking at the city below them, Shun Long remembered how he had come here just a few months ago to participate in the sect selection test.
Shun Long and little Black however didn't stop at the imperial city, and 10 minutes later, they had arrived outside of the 'Blue Forest city'.
Looking at the familiar city in the distance, Shun Long petted little Black's head as they flew above the city walls.
The guards in the city gates were terrified as they saw the black dragon flying above their heads as they immediately sounded the alarm.
Shun Long and little Black completely ignored the terrified city guards, as they flew straight to the Shun estate.
Less than a minute later
The guards outside the Shun estate were vigilantly holding their spears as they were keeping watch outside the estate, when they saw little Black coming from the distance. The 2 guards almost pissed themselves from fright as they hurriedly run back inside the estate and locked the gates.
The entire Shun estate, soon entered a state of unrest, as people saw a dragon hovering in the air above them.
Even Shun Fang and Shun An had arrived at the scene and looked at little Black in terror.
Little Black then descended in the Shun estate and as Shun Long removed his black robes, people finally saw the young man on his back.
Shun An was the first to recognize him as she unconsciously took a step forward, while the look in her eyes changed from the initial terror, to incredulity, and then to joy as she said
''L-Long'er!''
