The moment that he walked out of the canyon, Shun Long saw another group standing outside, staring warily at the canyon's entrance.
This group seemed similar to Ying Gui's group, with 2 small carriages and a group of over 10 guards that had completely surrounded the carriages, protecting them from all sides.
The guards all had solemn looks on their faces as they stared at the entrance of the canyon, as if they were still debating whether to enter or not.
Shun Long also noticed that most of the guards seemed to be at the early stages of the Nascent Soul, while 2 of them were actually at the early rank 4 and the peak rank 4 of the Nascent Soul respectively.
At the same time that Shun Long walked out of the 'Flame Lion's' canyon and turned his gaze towards them, the 12 guards all turned to look in his direction as well, staring at him with gazes filled with incredulity and shock.
''Did that guy really just exit the 'Flame Lion's' canyon by himself? This... don't tell me that he made it out coming from the other side...''
''Idiot, what are you even thinking about? Can't you see that he is just an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator? He probably just entered the canyon and walked around the outskirts before coming out again.''
The first guard nodded his head when he heard his friend's words as he realized that they actually made more sense than his own guess.
Indeed, even they needed a group of 12 people and more than ample preparations just to have a chance to pass through the 'Flame Lion's' canyon. Could an early rank 3 Nascent Soul stage cultivator even survive if he entered inside by himself? Even reaching the depths of the canyon would be a far-fetched dream.
Shun Long however completely ignored the guards' hushed discussions, and soaring in the sky, he headed directly for the Holy city.
Naturally, Shun Long wouldn't keep his second 'Monarch's Domain' active after leaving the 'Flame Lion's' canyon, or even with his own qi reserves, he knew that it would only be a matter of time until he was completely exhausted.
...
2 days later, after flying at full speed without taking a break, Shun Long saw the familiar outline of an enormous city appearing in the distance, along with a gigantic mountain towering right above the city, whose peak pierced high above the clouds.
Shun Long's lips curved up when he saw the sight in front of him, as he flew towards the bustling city without any hesitation.
The line in front of the city gates was no different than 10 days ago, with thousands of cultivators queueing up one after the other, as well as hundreds of carriages waiting in line.
In front of the Holy city that had tens of thousands of cultivators entering and leaving every single day, Yanzhu city really seemed like an abandoned small village in comparison.
Unlike the last time however, Shun Long didn't wait in front of the city gates along with the rest of the people who were queueing up, and flew towards the city gates right away.
Although some people were shocked when they saw someone skipping the queue, to most of them this was a natural occurrence that they had seen far too many times to care about.
Forget about the disciples of the Holy sect, even the descendants of the powerful families and clans that lived inside the city didn't have to wait in the queue and could enter the city directly.
Although most people were angry at those big families and clans who were abusing their power to do this, no one complained if the disciples of the Holy sect had at least this much preferential treatment.
Indeed, as soon as the city guards saw Shun Long approaching the gates, they simply bowed before they stepped aside, allowing him to enter the city, just like they did with any other outer court disciple of the Holy sect.
Staring at the city in front of him that was overflowing with life, just like the last time that he was here, with countless street stalls and shops everywhere around him trying to promote their goods, Shun Long headed for the heart of the city right away.
Although Shun Long was planning to enter the Dao Tower and spend the following 2 weeks trying to increase his comprehension in his Dao of Time before he returned back to the Holy sect, he first planned to take a look at the 'White tiger chamber of commerce' that he didn't visit the last time and see if they truly had any rare rank 6 medicinal herbs for sale along with anything else.
Finally, 3 hours later, after walking around the center of the city where most of the biggest shops were located, Shun Long saw a massive building that seemed to have been made from pure white jade, with the words 'White Tiger chamber of commerce' written above its entrance.
The building wasn't as tall as the gigantic Dao Tower that spanned for more than 3.000 meters(9850ft) in the sky, but the area it covered was much wider, enough to fit 5 more Dao Towers inside it.
At the same time, Shun Long saw hundreds of cultivators entering and leaving the building at all times, but unlike the Dao Tower, there was no queue to enter inside.
Following the crowd, Shun Long had a look of curiosity on his face as he walked past the building's entrance and entered inside.
However, the scene that appeared in Shun Long's eyes the moment that he entered inside didn't look like the interior of a building, but like a whole new city instead. A sea of cultivators appeared in his eyes regardless of where he focused his gaze at, all of them standing in front of the hundreds of counters and looking at the items inside that were put on display.