In the past one month, Shun Long and Liu Mei had finished almost 10 missions from the 'Mercenaries' Association' outside of the Heaven's Dome city.
Most of them proved to be relatively easier missions, but there was one of them that was at the same level of difficulty as Hao Jingguo's den.
During this time, Shun Long had already reached the peak of rank 9 in Heaven grade, and had also finished purifying all of his qi balls, while Liu Mei had also reached the peak of rank 8 in Heaven grade.
Liu Mei also noticed that as her cultivation was increasing, the cultivation of her undead creatures was rising along with her.
Her skeletons were all at the middle or rank 8 in Heaven grade, while the undead knights were at the peak of rank 8.
However, Liu Mei's biggest surprise wasn't the increase in her cultivation or the increase in her battle strength, but her comprehension in the Dao of Death.
She noticed that the more cultivators her undead army killed, her comprehension of the Dao of Death would rise accordingly.
Entering inside the Heaven's Dome city on the black panther's back, Shun Long and Liu Mei noticed, that the atmosphere was completely different.
People had crowded the southern entrance of the city, all of them eagerly staring at the city gates with eyes filled with excitement.
Although Shun Long was curious at what was going on, in the end, he ignored the large crowd, as he and Liu Mei soon appeared outside of the 'Alchemists' Guild'.
After putting on his rank 3 silver grade badge on his chest, Shun Long and Liu Mei then entered inside the majestic building.
As always, the lobby of the 'Alchemists' Guild' was filled with people who were either looking to purchase pills, or hire alchemists to refine some special pills for them.
Since non-alchemists weren't allowed to enter the depths of the guild, Liu Mei waited with the black panther in the guild's lobby, while Shun Long walked deeper inside.
After walking through a large corridor, Shun Long once again saw the 6 black-armored guards who were standing in front of the huge white door that he had passed through the last time.
The 6 Nascent Soul realm guards didn't stop Shun Long, once they saw the 3-starred silver-colored badge on his chest, and retracting their pressure, they opened the 10m(33ft) tall white door behind them, allowing him to enter inside.
The moment that Shun Long entered inside the white door, he could feel half a dozen pairs of eyes that had suddenly focused on him, while the medicinal garden that spanned for more than 10 miles once again appeared in front of his eyes.
''HAHAHA! Little brother Shun, welcome!''
Laughter resounded in the air, as a golden-robed middle-aged man with a square jaw quickly appeared in front of Shun Long.
Shun Long smiled and cupped his hands at the middle-aged man in front of him, as he said
''Senior Kong Yan''
Following Kong Yan, 5 other people in golden robes appeared around Shun Long, when the voice of an elderly man sounded in the air, as he asked
''Wenling, is this the alchemist that you were talking about?''
Looking at the source of the voice, Shun Long saw an old man in golden robes, with a cauldron-shaped badge that had 3 golden stars on it.
This old man who barely had any hair left on his head, stared at Shun Long with his deep brown eyes that had hints of interest and curiosity inside them.
At the same time that Shun Long's gaze met this old man's, Little Black's voice sounded in his head, as the black dragon said cautiously
''Master, this person is strong! Just from the power of his soul sense, I can tell that it's very likely, that he is already at the peak of rank 9 in the Dao King realm, or at least very close to reaching this level.
The elderly woman next to the old man nodded her head, and looking at Shun Long she said with a smile on her face
''Elder brother Zhao, you are right. He is one of the young alchemists that I was talking about.
Little brother Shun, it's been more than a month since you have come to the guild.
Let me introduce you.
This person is one of the two rank 3 gold grade alchemists of our 'Alchemists' Guild', senior Zhao Lan.''
Zhao Lan nodded his head with what seemed to be a gentle smile on his face, as he stared at the young man in front of him.
But just like how Zhao Lan had heard about Shun Long, Jin Wenling and Kong Yan had also told Shun Long about the 2 strongest alchemists of the 'Alchemists' Guild', and one of them was precisely Zhao Lan.
''Little kid, I heard that Wenling looks very favorably upon you. Join us old men for a chat. After all, what we are discussing will certainly affect you as well.''
Shun Long cupped his hands at the old man in front of him, as he followed him to the middle of the herb garden.
Sitting on one of the seats in front of the large wooden table, Shun Long saw Zhao Lan looking at him with a serious look on his face as he said
''Little kid, what you are about to hear today is something that only the major powers of our Night star continent know of. You are only allowed to learn about this because Wenling said that you are a promising alchemist of our guild and that you have hopes of reaching the gold grade.
If it was another rank 3 silver grade alchemist, they wouldn't even have the chance to sit with us, let alone learn what I am about to say.''
Shun Long looked at the old man in front of him, who took a deep breath as he continued
''In the past month, more and more young people from all over the Night star continent have been coming to our Heaven's Dome city, and they are all coming for the same reason!
The Holy sect.''