Shun Long tried to raise his head, but that was the only movement that he could do.
A few hundred meters ahead of him, he could see a jade-white palace, with dark gold runes covering its walls, while its gigantic palace gates were thousands of meters tall.
In front of the palace gates there were 2 enormous statues, that were almost as tall as the palace gates themselves.
The statues looked like 2 strong warriors, covered in armor that seemed to have been made from some kind of silver.
The statues' facial features were similar to humans', however, the difference was, that each statue also had a pair of gigantic silver wings on their backs.
Each of them was also holding a spear, and although they were just statues, Shun Long had a feeling that he was staring at 2 enormous monsters.
Crack
Crackk
Crackk!
Cracking sounds were heard from Shun Long's body in rapid succession.
The pain of his bones being crushed under the terrifying pressure around him, had left him in a miserable position.
Even though his body had already reached the middle of rank 3 in body refinement, it still couldn't endure the enormous pressure that was grinding his bones to dust.
The 'Monarch's Eternal body' then started to circulate by itself, as a gentle power had started to quickly heal Shun Long's fractured bones.
And yet, the all-encompassing pressure around him continued to destroy his bones at an even faster rate than before.
Even the healing from the 'Monarch's Eternal body' that had reached the middle of the third stage, couldn't keep up with the speed that Shun Long's bones were being destroyed.
Gritting his teeth, Shun Long activated the 'Monarch's Hourglass', as 81 bright balls of qi appeared above his head.
Circulating the qi inside his qi balls, he then covered his body from head to toe, as he tried to reduce the horrifying pressure around him.
As soon as he covered himself with his qi, Shun Long could feel the surrounding pressure drastically reducing in intensity.
The healing of the 'Monarch's Eternal body' now far outstripped the destructive power of the pressure around him.
And yet, the qi inside the 81 balls of qi in the 'Monarch's Hourglass', was being drained at an alarming rate.
The 'Monarch's Eternal body' however, was automatically circulating by itself, using the pressure around Shun Long to temper his body even further.
Although Shun Long felt immense pain as his bones were being broken over and over again, he still gritted his teeth as he endured the process.
He knew that his body was automatically circulating, in order to temper his strength and adapt to the environment around him.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long took out some middle rank 5 'Qi replenishing pills' that he had gotten from Xue Zhilan's spatial ring, and consumed them one by one.
This was the only way that he could keep replenishing the qi inside his qi balls.
Otherwise, his balls of qi were emptied out, he would no longer be able to face this pressure by using his 'Monarch's Eternal body' by itself.
Half a day soon passed, while Shun Long's body had been tempered countless times during this time.
Suddenly, from the depths of his body, a terrifying power exploded, which made even the pressure in the air around him halt for a second.
''Peak of the third stage in the 'Monarch's Eternal body'!''
Under the surrounding pressure that had crushed his body countless times, Shun Long had finally broken through to the peak of the third stage in body refinement.
He could now clearly feel that his body wasn't as strained by the surrounding pressure any longer.
Even without the help of the qi covering his body, Shun Long could now stand up.
He could finally take a look around him.
Shun Long noticed, that he was standing on a patch of golden soil, while in the distance ahead of him, was the gigantic palace that seemed to have been standing there for countless years.
On top of the palace, there were a series of words that he had never seen before. Even with the knowledge that he had absorbed from the golden book, Shun Long couldn't seem to be able to decipher these symbols.
After memorizing them in his mind, he then turned his head around to take a look at this unfamiliar place.
And yet, behind him, there was only a patch of red soil, while around him and around the palace, there was nothing but pitch-black darkness.
Shun Long could feel powerful spatial fluctuations from the darkness around him.
With his understanding of the Dao of Space, Shun Long could clearly tell, that the power of these spatial fluctuations could instantly kill even Dao Kings.
He didn't know when, but a path of golden stairs had appeared in front of him, that lead directly to the majestic white palace in front of him.
The path had more than one thousand stairs, that were shining radiantly with a bright golden color.
Shun Long noticed that he was now firmly standing on the first step of the stairs.
After deliberating for a while, Shun Long steeled his heart and once again circulated the qi inside his qi balls, before he took a step forward.
The moment that his foot touched the 2nd golden step however, Shun Long could feel an unstoppable power rushing inside his body.
This power was much stronger than the pressure that he had felt earlier, and even with the help of his peak rank 9 Heaven grade cultivation, Shun Long was unable to resist this power for long.
He quickly tried to retract his foot, but the rebound of the pressure sent him flying towards the patch of red soil behind him.
At that moment, the 'Stone of Time' inside Shun Long's spiritual space once again started to rotate, and before Shun Long could touch the patch of red soil, a familiar sensation enveloped his body.
The membrane of time covering his body started to expand while the familiar feeling of spatial distortion once again appeared around him.
Under Little Black's shocked eyes, Shun Long's body once again appeared inside the foggy place in the 'Stone of Time'.