Shun Long had already received enough food and water from the inn-keeper this time, before entering seclusion to reach the 7th rank in qi condensation.
The bottleneck that other cultivators would meet at the peak of rank 6 wasn't a bottleneck for Shun Long at all, hence why he didn't need the 'Qi barrier-breaking' pill for himself.
He sat down cross-legged as he entered inside the space of the triangular-shaped stone.
There were 55 balls of qi above his head, 8 of which were shining more brightly than the others.
Shun Long took a deep breath as he said
''It's time to start.''
He then started purifying the rest of the qi balls, his goal was to make them all at the same level as the other 8 above him.
Days passed while Shun Long was in seclusion, and soon, it was already the 21st day since he had arrived in the 'floating cloud city.
Shun Long had already reached the early stage of rank 7 but still hadn't exited his seclusion.
After one more week, Shun Long finally stopped cultivating and stood up from his cross-legged position.
His body that should originally be feeling sore after sitting cross-legged for almost a month, was brimming with energy as Shun Long had already reached the peak of rank 7 in qi circulation.
Inside the 'Monarch's Hourglass', there were now 63 qi balls of light, all at the same level of power.
As Shun Long stood up and stretched himself, he started pondering on how to sell his 5 'Qi barrier-breaking' pills.
Suddenly he slapped his thigh as he exclaimed
''Damn, why didn't I think of this earlier?''
He opened the chest he had carried all the way from the 'Blue Forest-city' and searched among the clothes he had brought with him and found a black robe that covered him perfectly.
Shun Long tried wearing the black robe, and after making sure that his face and body were both completely covered, he removed it as he stuffed it inside a small bag that he hanged on his left shoulder.
Shun Long then stuffed the bottle with the 'Qi barrier-breaking' pills inside his robes and left his courtyard.
The inn-keeper looked at Shun Long who was just leaving his courtyard and approached him as he said
''Guest, you have used almost the entire month that you paid for. There are 3 more days left. Please remember that the courtyard you are staying in costs 4 sect points each month, so make sure to renew the payment if you wish to extend your stay for another month.''
The middle-aged inn-keeper said somewhat amiably, but his eyes betrayed the scorn he felt. He had seen plenty of new disciples like Shun Long, who had just arrived from the 'Mortal world', and instead of looking for ways to gather sect points, they only looked at the short-term benefits of cultivating in the richer aura of the 'cultivation world'. Only when these people's sect points fell to 0 would they understand their mistakes, but it would be too late by then.
Shun Long heard the inn-keeper but he didn't really pay any attention to him.
His mind was fully occupied with the matter of the 'Qi barrier-breaking' pills.
Although Shun Long's plan was good in theory, he didn't know if it would actually work.
After asking for directions, he walked for half an hour before arriving at the 'Treasure Pavilion'.
The structure of the pavilion was huge, just as big as the 'Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion's'.
The 'Treasure Pavilion' could be considered slightly inferior to the 'Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion' in terms of luxuriousness, but it was definitely above it in terms of grandeur.
Its outer appearance wasn't any inferior to the 'Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion's' actually.
The biggest difference between the 'Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion' and the 'Treasure Pavilion' was that while only filthy rich disciples like Lu Wen and fatty Fu tended to visit the first, everyone, whether they were rich or poor, would always need to visit the second.
That was because the 'Mystifying Fragrance Pavilion' was a center for entertainment, while the 'Treasure Pavilion' was a place for disciples to buy what they needed.
Shun Long didn't directly walk inside the 'Treasure Pavilion'. Instead, he took a detour and found a secluded alley a few dozen meters away from it.
After making sure that no one was looking at him, Shun Long put the black robe on his body as he headed towards the 'Treasure Pavilion'.
The streets were bustling and as a result, not many people paid attention to his black robes. After all, it wasn't that uncommon for people to put on a disguise inside the 'floating cloud city'.