Submerged under Little Black's flames, Xue Zhilan's cries eventually went silent.
20 breaths of time later, the black flames were extinguished by themselves, leaving behind nothing but a pile of black ash.
The black dragon was still hovering in the sky, as he made sure that Xue Zhilan's soul had also been swept up in the flames along with his body, before he flew towards Shun Long.
Shun Long smiled when he saw the proud look in Little Black's eyes, while Liu Mei and the black panther stared at the huge dragon with awe in their eyes.
After all, Little Black had managed to kill a rank 3 Dao King realm expert.
After patting the black dragon's head, Shun Long walked towards Xue Zhilan's remains.
There was no corpse, or bones left however. There was just a pile of black ashes along with a half-destroyed spatial ring, that seemed to have suffered severe damages.
Shun Long heaved out in relief when he saw that the spatial ring could still be used, and without any hesitation, he sent his spiritual strength inside it.
This was the spatial ring of a rank 3 Dao King, and its contents were certain to be even better than Hao Ping's!
Indeed, as soon as Shun Long's spiritual strength entered inside the black ring, a stunning scene appeared in front of his eyes.
Nearly 300.000 middle-grade spirit stones along with dozens of weapons were piled up on top of each other, forming small mountains that were exuding powerful energy fluctuations.
Tens of pill bottles were lying around on the ground, and almost a dozen medicinal herbs were thrown left and right.
Additionally, on an unassuming corner, more than 100 scrolls were neatly placed on top of each other, while next to them, Xue Zhilan seemed to have placed his 'Dragon Lord's medallion.
Shun Long's eyes lit up with a bright light, when he saw the stunning amount of wealth inside Xue Zhilan's spatial ring.
Even if he added Hao Ping's and Tan Duyi's wealth together, they would still pale in comparison to Xue Zhilan's!
Just from the pile of weapons next to the spirit stones, Shun Long noticed more than 6 rank 1 gold grade weapons, while his attention was soon focused on a blue-colored sword.
4 words were carved on the sword's surface, shining with a bright silver light
'Four seasons azure sword'
Shun Long immediately understood, that this sword was just like his 'Purple Blossom staff', a pinnacle rank 1 gold grade weapon.
Since Shun Long was still using his 'Purple Blossom staff', he decided to give the 'Four seasons azure sword' to Liu Mei.
After all, her rank 1 silver grade sword would be unable to bring the full might of her cultivation in the future.
As for the bottles of pills that were lying around, most of them were either middle or low-grade rank 5 healing pills, anti toxin pills, or qi restoration pills.
After sorting out the medicinal ingredients that were tossed around, Shun Long's eyes shone with disbelief when he saw a withered, almost completely dead crimson herb.
'Rank 5 Dragonblood grass!'
Excitement filled Shun Long's eyes once he verified that this was indeed a stalk of 'Dragonblood grass', as he quickly placed it in his herb garden inside the 'Stone of Time'.
''Although the rank 5 'Dragonblood grass' is created from the blood of drakes instead of actual dragons, it is still a rank 5 medicinal herb that can help me, Little Black, and the black panther advance to the next ranks!''
It didn't matter that the 'Dragonblood grass' was completely withered. With the 'Stone of TIme', Shun Long could make it grow endlessly, as well as restore its vitality, by using his own qi to nourish it.
After placing the rest of the medicinal herbs inside the 'Stone of Time' as well, Shun Long turned his attention to the pile of scrolls.
From the 100 scrolls, more than 60 of them were cultivation techniques, while the rest were martial skills.
Among them, Shun Long found a Saint low-grade cultivation technique, called the 'Metal convergence', as well as 4 Mystic high-grade martial skills.
Since none of them caught his eye however, Shun Long placed them all inside the 'Stone of Time', along with the 'Dragon Lord's medallion', before his spiritual strength returned back to his body.
Liu Mei, the black panther and Little Black, were all waiting around him, when they saw a bright smile forming on his face.
Looking at Liu Mei, Shun Long handed her the 'Four seasons azure sword'.
A shocked look flashed past Liu Mei's eyes, but since Shun Long gave her a gift she didn't refuse.
The length and the shape of the sword were very similar to her white sword as well.
The only difference that Liu Mei felt, was that the hilt of the blue sword was noticeably thinner compared to her white sword.
Seeing the rare excitement in Liu Mei's face, Shun Long smiled before he patted Little Black's head, who then returned to the 'Stone of Time'.
After all, Little Black knew, that unless he and Shun Long became strong enough, the black dragon wouldn't be able to stay outside of the 'Stone of Time' for too long, otherwise his life could be at risk.
Shun Long sighed but didn't say anything to Little Black who returned to the 'Stone of Time'. After all, he too had the same feelings and knew, that the only way for Little Black to show his face to the world, was for them to both become even stronger.
After taking a look around him, Shun Long also patted the excited black panther's head, before he and Liu Mei climbed on its back.
Right now, Shun Long and Liu Mei were less than a day's travel from the Dreamland forest.
Shun Long planned for him and Liu Mei to clear the C-rank mission first inside the Dreamland forest.
The black panther then spread its majestic silver wings and took to the sky, as it headed towards the north.
A day soon passed like this, when Shun Long and Liu Mei arrived in front of an endless forest, that was filled with purple trees as far as the eye could see.