Shun Long knew that he was just a step away from advancing to the middle of the fourth stage of the 'Monarch's Eternal body', and yet, he couldn't directly consume a stalk of 'Dragonblood grass' in order to advance.
Aside from the violent energy inside the 'Dragonblood grass' that was harmful to cultivators if it was consumed directly, Shun Long knew that the only way to do it without leaving any latent dangers to his body, would be if he could refine the grass into rank 5 'Dragonblood tempering pills'.
However, what he had lacked the most during this time, had been the beast cores from rank 5 magic beasts.
Thankfully, now that he had the beast cores of the 2 'snow apes' in his hand, he could finally attempt to refine the 'Dragonblood tempering pills'!
Seeing that Little Black was actually asleep, Shun Long guessed, that the black dragon must have been digesting the stalks of 'Dragonblood grass' that he had consumed during this time.
Of course, due to their soul connection, Shun Long could also feel that Little Black's strength had been rising during this time as well.
Standing up, he first removed the beast cores from the 2 'snow apes' bodies, before he sat back on his usual seat and took out his alchemy cauldron.
Closing his eyes, Shun Long then took out a dozen of rank 4 supplementary medicinal herbs, as well as a stalk of rank 5 'Dragonblood grass' from his herb garden, before he started to warm up his alchemy cauldron.
Thanks to Little Black and Little Silver eating huge amounts of 'Dragonblood grass', Shun Long had already created a large stockpile of this medicinal herb, so he didn't need to specifically hasten the growth of the medicinal herbs in his herb garden just for this grass.
After throwing the rank 4 medicinal herbs inside the alchemy cauldron, 15 minutes later, Shun Long finally placed the crimson stalk of 'Dragonblood grass' inside, as well as the beast core of the early rank 5 'snow ape', before he closed the lid of the cauldron.
Due to the quality of the alchemy cauldron itself being just a rank 2 silver grade one, it was extremely difficult for it to contain the energy of the rank 5 medicinal herb inside it, as well as the beast core of the powerful rank 5 'snow ape'.
Refining a rank 5 pill under these circumstances was extremely taxing to Shun Long's spirit sense, that continued to purify the medicinal essence of the medicinal herbs inside the cauldron, while he tried to melt the beast core into essence at the same time.
Beads of sweat had appeared on Shun Long's forehead as minutes continued to pass, but he knew that he couldn't stop the pill refinement, otherwise everything he had done so far would be wasted.
Although losing a stalk of 'Dragonblood grass' or the dozen of rank 4 supplementary herbs wasn't too much of an issue, losing the beast core of the 'snow ape' would be a huge problem.
After all, during this time, the number of beast cores that Shun Long had found which could be used in order to refine a 'Dragonblood tempering pill', could be counted in one hand.
Aside from the 2 rank 5 'snow apes', the only other suitable magic beast core that Shun Long had found in the past, was the beast core from Cui Guoliang's 'precious Nine-eyed giant worm'.
Of course, since Little Black had absorbed that beast core already in order to advance his strength, Shun Long could only use the beast cores from the 2 rank 5 'snow apes' that he had left.
Time continued to pass, and soon, 3 hours had already gone by, as the fragrant scent of the medicinal herbs slowly escaped the cauldron, as they started to fill the foggy space inside the 'Stone of Time'.
At the same time, Little Black opened his blue eyes, as he tried to look for the source of the scent that had assaulted his nose, before his eyes landed on Shun Long who was still sitting cross-legged on the ground.
Shun Long patted Little Black's head as the black dragon had already placed it next to the cauldron, before he opened the cauldron's lid.
An even more intense smell assaulted Shun Long's senses the moment that he lifted the lid of the cauldron, before his gaze fell on the scene inside it.
6 bright red colored pills that were covered with a pale green glow were lying inside the cauldron, giving Shun Long a sense of hunger as he stared at them.
Although Shun Long guessed that it was possible to refine 8 pills instead of 6, he also knew that this was impossible for him to do so with a rank 2 silver-grade cauldron.
The conditions had to be perfect in order to refine 8 pills, which meant that Shun Long needed to have at least a rank 1 gold grade cauldron as well as a strong enough spirit sense.
Of course, Shun Long knew, that even if he had the money, it was most likely impossible to find a gold-grade cauldron for sale, even in the 'Heaven's Dome city'.
Gold grade formation masters would definitely be snatched up by a powerful power like the 'Alchemists' Guild' or the 'Golden Exchange firm', and wouldn't randomly auction their own works.
This way, the 'Alchemists' Guild' could also lure promising alchemists to join their ranks, while the formation masters could ensure the most benefits for themselves!
Staring at the 6 'Dragonblood tempering pills' inside the cauldron, Shun Long felt a wave of exhaustion overcoming him, as he had suddenly expended more than half of his spirit sense during the pill refinement.
Of course, aside from one of the 'Dragonblood tempering pills' being at the high-grade, the other 5 pills were all top-grade rank 5 pills!
Since he couldn't consume the high-grade pill without being able to avoid dealing with the pill toxins inside it later on, Shun Long gave it to Little Black before his eyes stared at the 5 top-grade pills in front of him.
As for Little Black himself, the dragon's body wouldn't get affected by any kind of pill toxins.
This was the difference between the bodies of cultivators and magic beasts.
Even Shun Long who was cultivating in the 'Monarch's Eternal body' couldn't completely avoid the effects of the pill toxins.
Although he could most likely deal with them later on and completely expel them from his body, it was still a troublesome process. Even Shun Long's powerful body couldn't be compared to the body of a king of magic beasts like Little Black's in this regard.
Seeing Little Black excitedly eat the high-grade 'Dragonblood tempering pill' as if it was some kind of delicacy, Shun Long smiled before he took a deep breath, and placed a top-grade 'Dragonblood tempering pill' in his mouth.
The energy inside the top-grade rank 5 pill immediately exploded as soon as the pill entered inside Shun Long's mouth, as the condensed medicinal essence inside it poured down Shun Long's throat before it slowly seeped inside his body.
The burning sensation filled Shun Long with pain, almost as if his body was about to explode from the excess energy, making him want to shout to relieve himself from the pain.
And yet, he knew that he could only grit his teeth and continue to endure this. After all, this was the only way for his 'Monarch's Eternal body' to advance.
Just when Shun Long felt that he had reached his limit and his body was about to explode, the 'Monarch's Eternal body' circulated by itself, as it started to hungrily absorb the energy from the 'Dragonblood tempering pill' inside Shun Long's body.
The barrier that was holding him at the early fourth stage of the 'Monarch's Eternal body' instantly broke, as Shun Long felt his strength rising at an extremely rapid rate.
He could feel endless amounts of energy filling his body, and barely a few minutes later, he had already entered the middle of the fourth stage of the 'Monarch's Eternal body'!
A few more moments passed before Shun Long felt the remnant energy of the 'Dragonblood tempering pill' inside his body disappear.
Although he was still sitting cross-legged, but Shun Long could feel that his body was now many times stronger than before.
If he had trouble fighting with a rank 6 Spirit realm expert in the past, Shun Long could feel that he could most likely defeat one in less than 3 punches.
Little Black stared at Shun Long with excitement in his bright blue eyes, before he said in an excited voice
''Master, congratulations for your breakthrough!''
Shun Long could feel Little Black's joy for his breakthrough, before he smiled and petted the black dragon's head.
Since their feelings were connected, even without Little Black saying anything, Shun Long could still feel his emotions.
After taking a deep breath, Shun Long turned his eyes towards the remaining 4 pills inside his alchemy cauldron.
He didn't choose to consume the remaining 'Dragonblood tempering pills' right away, and instead, he first placed them inside a pill bottle, before he closed his eyes and imagined himself leaving the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time'.
Although a little more than 3 hours had passed inside the 'Stone of Time', less than 30 minutes had gone by for Liu Mei who was still training with her 'four seasons azure sword'.
Seeing Shun Long appearing back in the cave so quickly, a shocked expression had appeared on Liu Mei's face, before a blooming smile soon replaced it.
Shun Long smiled gently as he caressed Liu Mei's face, feeling much more confident now that he had advanced to the middle of the fourth stage in the 'Monarch's Eternal body'.
Even if he had to fight with a peak rank 4 magic beast, even if he couldn't defeat it, he was still confident in fighting it on even grounds.
Feeling the aura coming from Shun Long's body that was at least at the same level as that of a peak rank 6 Spirit realm expert's, Liu Mei's smile bloomed like a lotus.
Liu Mei already knew that Shun Long was cultivating in both qi and body refinement.
Without any hesitation, Shun Long first had Little Silver return inside the 'Stone of Time', before he held Liu Mei's hand and left the small mountain that they were staying in, ready to hunt some peak rank 4 magic beasts.
Time continued to fly inside the 'Ten thousand beasts' mountain region', and in the blink of an eye, 2 years had soon passed.