Liu Mei's white robes were drenched in sweat, while an expression of agony and pain had filled her face!
She knew that she was about to breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage, and there was no way to delay this matter any longer!
Despite the piercing pain, that was similar to needles stabbing her soul, Liu Mei still did her best to take out a bottle filled with purple-colored pills from her spatial ring and hold it tightly in her hands.
This was the same bottle that Shun Long had given to her before they entered the white gate outside the Heaven's Dome city, to participate in the first test of the Holy sect!
Liu Mei clearly remembered that Shun Long had seriously exhorted her, to consume these pills before she attempted her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage!
Feeling her spirit sense that was wildly churning inside her spiritual space like a wild animal that could no longer be contained, as well as her qi that seemed to be on the verge of exploding, Liu Mei opened the pill bottle in her hands with great difficulty, before she placed all 3 pills inside her mouth without any hesitation!
Although she didn't know the effects of these pills, Liu Mei believed that there was no way for Shun Long to harm her.
Since he had told her to consume these pills before her breakthrough, Liu Mei would do so without any hesitation.
The moment the pills entered her mouth and turned into a stream of purple-colored medicinal essence that slid down her throat, Liu Mei didn't hesitate any longer, as she hurriedly closed her eyes and begun to circulate the 'Blood Absorption art', beginning her breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage!
At the same time, Liu Mei already knew, that the breakthrough to the Nascent Soul stage would be a qualitative change to her.
Not only would her spirit sense transform into soul sense and be able to leave her body after breaking through the Nascent Soul stage, but she also knew that if the body of a Nascent Soul stage cultivator died, as long as the soul stayed intact, it was possible to possess another body and start cultivating from the beginning!
Additionally, since the insights of the Daos that the Nascent Soul stage expert had comprehended, as well as the memories and experiences that they had acquired wouldn't be lost, it wouldn't be too hard to reach the Nascent Soul stage again in the future.
Of course, the quality of the qi as well as the foundation Dao of the cultivator, would also experience a huge change after breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage!
Liu Mei knew, that as long as she managed to successfully complete her breakthrough, she would become many times stronger than before!
The moment that she started to circulate the 'Blood Absorption art' however, endless and insufferable pain filled every inch of her body, while her eyes instantly turned red!
Suddenly, black and incorporeal tendrils of death qi appeared from her body, covering Liu Mei inside a black cocoon!
...
At the same time, completely oblivious to the fact that Liu Mei had fallen into a state of enlightenment during the second test and was now in the process of breaking through to the Nascent Soul stage, Shun Long was advancing through a lush forest, as he headed towards the small city that was located a few hundred miles past the east of the forest, amidst the vast plains in the distance!
As he traveled through the forest, Shun Long had been somewhat surprised to find out, that aside from a few early and middle rank 4 magic beasts, he didn't even find a single peak rank 4 beast, let alone an early rank 5 one.
However, after thinking about it for a moment, he realized that it made sense.
''Hmm, since the aim of the third test, is to make the disciples participating in it fight against the criminals inside the 1000 cities, the Holy sect wouldn't go out of its way to place rank 5 magic beasts near the cities' surroundings!''
And yet, despite reaching this conclusion and knowing that it was unlikely for a rank 5 magic beast to appear in this forest, Shun Long didn't get complacent and lower down his guard, as he carefully continued forward.
''Even if there are no rank 5 magic beasts inside this forest, it is still more than likely for other disciples who are undertaking this test, to set up an ambush and attempt to try and rob others.
Perhaps if they are lucky, they will even find a token of the Holy sect among the treasures of their victim, allowing them to pass through the third test effortlessly.''
As this mocking thought flashed through his mind, he continued to check his surroundings without letting down his guard, as he continued moving forward!
Of course, Shun Long wasn't afraid of being robbed and he would even welcome these people with open arms if this was in the past, but this time, he didn't want to waste too much time inside this forest, in case the token inside the city gets taken away while he wastes time inside this forest.
2 hours quickly passed, as Shun Long left the lush forest behind him without any issues.
It was unknown if there were no disciples who had set up an ambush, or if Shun Long had simply failed to meet them on the way.
As soon as he left the lush forest and entered the vast plains, Shun Long saw his field of view expanding, as a small-sized city appeared in the distance ahead of him, slowly getting bigger and bigger in his eyes as he continued forward.
An hour quickly passed, and Shun Long was just 10 miles away from the city, when he saw a small crowd gathered in the vast plains just a few miles away from the city gates!
Almost 200 young men and women dressed in different types of clothes were gathered together, and all of them were staring at the city gates in the distance with serious looks in their eyes.
Turning his eyes towards the small city ahead of him, Shun Long immediately realized the reason why these people were gathered here, and why they were staring at the city gates with solemn looks!
More than 1000 men and women were gathered in the city walls, staring at the small group of 200 disciples with mocking looks on their faces.
There was a serious look in Shun Long's eyes as he also stared at the scene in the distance, without heading towards it straight away.
''Although most of them seem to be at the rank 1 of the Nascent Soul stage, there are still more than 1000 of them! Additionally, it's impossible for these people to be the entire force of the city, without any rank 2 or rank 3 Nascent Soul stage experts hidden inside!''
As this thought flashed through Shun Long's mind, he then turned his eyes to look at the group of 200 disciples who were standing less than 10 miles away from the city, only to see that some of them were also staring back at him.
All of a sudden, Shun Long saw a handsome young man dressed in luxurious silver-colored robes whose cultivation was at the early rank 3 of the Nascent Soul stage, as that person stood up and walked towards Shun Long's direction.