Inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time', the black panther let out a deafening roar, as the aura of a rank 6 magic beast exploded from its body.
A rank 6 magic beast!
This meant that the panther was now equivalent to a Dao King in strength!
As soon as the black panther sensed Shun Long's spirit sense that had appeared next to it, it let out another roar that was filled with both gratitude and excitement.
After all, without the stalks of rank 5 'Dragonblood grass', it would have been unable to advance to the rank 6 just yet.
Once he confirmed that the black panther had successfully completed its breakthrough, Shun Long heaved out in relief, before his spirit sense returned back to his body.
An hour soon passed and seeing that the sun had already started to rise, Liu Mei also opened her eyes as she stopped circulating the 'Moonlight Sigil'.
Since it was already morning, it was time for the 2 of them to enter the Netherspirit forest.
After returning the 'Heaven swallowing vine' in the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long didn't bring out the black panther, but instead, he and Liu Mei walked on foot towards the Netherspirit forest's entrance.
Once again, Shun Long could feel the boundless death qi coming from the forest, as he and Liu Mei arrived at the forest's entrance.
He could see the countless black-colored trees inside, while even the sunlight itself seemed to have problems penetrating through the thick death qi that covered the forest.
He and Liu Mei had barely walked for half a mile through the forest's entrance, when Shun Long felt the death qi around him trying to invade his body.
With the strength from the 'Monarch's Eternal body' however, Shun Long didn't even need to circulate his own qi in order to block the death qi around him.
Liu Mei however didn't reject the death qi around her, and instead, she chose to absorb some of it, as she tried to refine its energy inside her body.
The result though, was completely different from what she had expected.
The moment that the death qi entered her body, Liu Mei immediately coughed out a mouthful of black blood, as a heavy pain hammered her chest.
The 'Moonlight Sigil' was unable to refine the death qi around her, causing Liu Mei to feel her senses being dulled as she almost passed out!
Shun Long was stunned when he saw the black blood that Liu Mei had coughed, that instantly corroded the black soil on the ground.
Sizzling sounds could be heard, almost as if the black blood had turned into some kind of deadly poison.
Seeing that Liu Mei was about to faint and fall to the ground, Shun Long quickly caught her with his right hand to check her condition.
An aura of death, completely different from Liu Mei's own was coming from inside her body, while Liu Mei felt weakness overcoming her as she barely held on her senses.
She could feel a stifling feeling pressing on her chest, while her heart was about to explode!
After Shun Long fed her a top-grade 'Sun healing pill', she then sat on the ground as she circulated the 'Moonlight Sigil' once again, this time to expel the new death aura from her body.
At the same time that Liu Mei was expelling the death aura from her body, Little Black's voice sounded inside Shun Long's head, as the black dragon said
''Master, that was too reckless! A death aura that is created by the death of countless cultivators will certainly be impure, and is almost impossible to be refined through normal means.
Unless one is cultivating in a certain cultivation technique that allows them to absorb any death aura, then trying to do something like this is suicide!''
Shun Long nodded his head in understanding when he heard Little Black's words.
As an alchemist, he already knew that even medicinal herbs that were of similar nature wouldn't necessarily mesh together, let alone something as dangerous as death qi.
After all, Liu Mei's death aura was created from her own qi, after comprehending the Dao of Death even further and absorbing the death aura of cultivators who died around her.
However, the aura inside the Netherspirit forest was different.
It was the culmination of death from countless dead creatures, including other cultivators, and the last thing it could be called was pure.
In other words, if Liu Mei's death aura was like a glass of water, then the death qi inside the Netherspirit forest was like the poisonous fluid of a swamp.
Seeing that the color was returning on Liu Mei's face, Shun Long nodded his head, as he then asked in a serious tone
''Mei'er, are you okay?''
Liu Mei was still sitting on the ground, and raising her head to look at Shun Long she replied
''Long-ge... I am sorry. I thought that I could absorb the death aura and comprehend the Dao of Death further, but I couldn't!''
Shaking his head, Shun Long explained to her the same thing that he had heard from Little Black.
Liu Mei's eyes widened slightly when she heard Shun Long's words, as she finally understood the reason she couldn't refine the Netherspirit forest's death qi.
Half an hour passed until Liu Mei could completely expel the death qi from her body.
At the same time, Shun Long took out the map that he had purchased from the Heaven's Dome city, and traced out a path through the Netherspirit forest.
He was planning to take a small detour instead of passing entering inside the forest's central region.
Even though this detour could cause them to travel for half a day longer, the danger that they would have to face this way would be much lower.
After all, the central region was very likely to hold Dao King level magic beasts inside it, and even with Little Black and the black panther, Shun Long didn't plan to take any needless risks this time.
Looking at the map in his hands, Shun Long mumbled to himself
''According to the map, there should be a big lake a few miles away from the Netherspirit forest's central region. After passing through it, we should be very close to the forest's exit.''
Seeing that Liu Mei could stand up and that she had completely expelled the death aura from her body, Shun Long started walking towards the west of the Netherspirit forest.
At the same time that Shun Long and Liu Mei were entering deeper inside the Netherspirit forest, back inside the 'Alchemists' Guild' in the Heaven's Dome city, a man was kneeling in front of Zhao Lan who had just returned from the Shengtian dynasty's palace, and with a solemn tone, he explained everything that had transpired inside Shun Long's courtyard a few hours ago.
From the fact that the aura of a rank 6 magic beast had appeared in Shun Long's courtyard, to the Dao Kings who had completely surrounded the 'Golden pig inn', practically no details of the previous incident were omitted.
Zhao Lan had a serious look on his face as he heard the middle-aged man's report, before he asked in a curious tone
''Was the aura of the rank 6 magic beast really related to that brat?
Also, where is he right now?''