Complete silence had filled Shun Long's surroundings, as everyone stared at the Refinement Hall in front of them, before the shouts of the receptionists instantly filled everyone's ears a moment later.
It was obvious that they had also noticed Ma Ming's body that crashed inside the Refinement Hall just now.
''Y-You...''
The 2 young men who were standing behind Ma Ming previously, now stared at Shun Long with a hint of dread in their eyes, not daring to approach too close to him.
Since he had destroyed a peak rank 8 Nascent Soul cultivator like Ma Ming with a single punch, how could the 2 of them who were only at the peak of rank 7 and the early rank 8 in the Nascent Soul dare to fight against him?
The scariest part was that none of them could even understand what kind of Dao Shun Long had comprehended, but the terrifying force that they had felt made their heart shiver in terror.
They could both feel that if they were in Ma Ming's place just now, neither of them would be able to resist that terrifying power either.
However, it wasn't just the 2 of them who were astonished.
Even the 2 white-robed Dao Kings stared at Shun Long with eyes filled with shock and disbelief.
And yet, Shun Long didn't pay attention to any of them, as he turned around and looked at Xingyi who was staring at him with her stunning emerald eyes as she mumbled in a low voice
''Brother Long...''
Shaking his head, Shun Long took a step forward and held Xingyi's hands before he said in an apologetic tone
''Xingyi, I am sorry. I couldn't bring myself to give you an answer before, even though I knew how you felt. However, I don't want you to wait any longer.'' The look on Shun Long's eyes turned serious as he stared at Xingyi's enchanting green eyes and continued ''Xingyi, be my woman. You are the only other woman that I have cared for after Mei'er.''
Xingyi was stunned when she heard this before a brilliant smile was soon formed on Xingyi's lips in the next moment, enhancing her beauty even further as she nodded her head gently.
What she had been afraid from the very beginning was that Shun Long wouldn't like her and that her love would end up being one-sided.
After all, every girl wanted the man that she loved to like her back.
A smile also appeared on Liu Mei's face as she looked at this scene, while Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian simply nodded their heads.
Hearing the rowdy voices from inside the Refinement Hall however, the look on Xingyi's face soon changed as she remembered what had happened just now.
No matter what, Ma Ming was also a personal disciple of Elder Mao Jing, just like her, while Shun Long wasn't formally a disciple of an inner court Elder.
The only reason why he was allowed to enter the inner court today was only thanks to Liu Mei and the rest all being personal disciples of the inner court Elders, making the 2 Enforcement Hall disciples in front of the inner court to not dare block their group.
But Xingyi understood that this fight was definitely going to attract the attention of Elder Mao Jing. Even if Elder Mao Jing wasn't informed right away about it, there was no way that Ma Ming was going to swallow this insult today.
Looking at Shun Long, Xingyi nodded her head and said gently, but with a firm look on her face
''Brother Long, don't worry. I will take care of it! There is no way that I am going to allow Ma Ming create any trouble for brother Long!''
Without any hesitation, Xingyi entered the Refinement Hall, along with Shun Long and everyone else.
The 2 white-robed Elders outside the Refinement Hall didn't bother their group, acting like they hadn't seen anything.
Putting aside Shun Long's terrifying Dao that had even made those 2 powerful Dao Kings look at him seriously, just the fact that this fight involved 2 disciples of Elder Mao Jing, made the 2 Dao Kings unwilling to participate in it.
''Heh, if that guy really wants to create trouble, I don't mind teaching him a lesson as well. Let's see how many Elders he can ask to help him!'' Jiang Chen's eyes narrowed as he entered the Refinement Hall and looked at Ma Ming's figure that was now lying on the ground inside the interior of the hall, while the 3 receptionists and 2 more yellow-robed outer disciples were now gathered around him.
Although Ma Ming hadn't lost consciousness, it was obvious that he was in a very bad situation.
Thankfully, he had no life-threatening injuries which made the receptionists relax a bit.
''Miss Xingyi...''
One of the 3 receptionists instantly turned her attention towards the group that entered inside the Refinement Hall, before her eyes landed on Xie Xingyi's figure.
Since Xingyi was a personal disciple of Elder Mao Jing as well, the receptionists naturally recognized her.
Xingyi nodded her head with a calm look on her face, and ignoring the look of fury and disbelief that Ma Ming was throwing towards her and Shun Long, Xingyi looked at the receptionist and said
''There is no reason for you to do anything about today's matter. I will personally inform master about 'senior brother Ma's' fight with me.''
It was only now that the 2 receptionists realized that Ma Ming's current situation was probably related to Xingyi!
After all, they all knew that Ma Ming had been chasing after Xingyi without giving up for the past 10 months, even after Xingyi had rejected him, and he had even gone so far as to ask his master to help him.
Thus, the receptionists didn't find it odd that Xingyi would be angry and would eventually be unable to tolerate this any longer.
''But how is it possible for young lady Xie to beat young master Ma? Young master Ma is ranked within the top 2000 in the Martial Roll of Honor, while miss Xie has only just reached the middle of rank 7 in the Nascent Soul!''
Although this question flashed through the receptionists minds, they all nodded their heads and after one of them fed a pill to Ma Ming to help treat his injuried and carried him to a private room, the other 2 returned to their work.
Looking at the receptionists in front of her, Xingyi then said
''Please give us a spacious private room suitable for pill refinement.''
The receptionist nodded and answered respectfully
''Miss Xingyi, a room for peak gold-grade alchemists will cost 5000 sect points for a day.''
Shun Long nodded his head without any hesitation when he heard this, and transferred the 5000 sect points to the receptionist in front of them who then led them deeper inside the Refinement Hall.
The deeper they walked inside the hall, Shun Long could clearly sense his surroundings becoming even hotter, almost as if he had suddenly entered inside a furnace.
Even with his current strength, Shun Long still couldn't ignore the heat around him, while Liu Mei and Xingyi both had to circulate their qi to resist this heat that was becoming stronger with every step that they took further inside the Refinement Hall.
''Haha, master, this little girl was right. I can sense that there truly are 2 earth flames hidden inside this place.'' Little Black's joyful voice suddenly sounded inside Shun Long's mind in the next moment, causing Shun Long to nod his head with a smile on his face.
Naturally, Shun Long had already guessed this as well.
Only the power of an earth flame or another similar fire-element treasure could affect its surroundings like this, forcing even late-stage Nascent Soul cultivators like Liu Mei and Xingyi to circulate their qi to resist the heat that it naturally emitted.
At the same time, the receptionist led their group past quite a number of private rooms, while the scent of medicinal herbs coming from these rooms had already filled the air inside the Refinement Hall.
A moment later, the receptionist opened the door of a private room and led Shun Long and the others inside.
Sensing that Shun Long was the one leading this group, the receptionist turned her gaze towards him and said in a respectful manner
''Young master, please remember that you only have 24 hours. If you want to extend your stay for more than a day, you will have to pay an extra 5000 sect points for every day you stay here.''
Shun Long nodded his head and thanked the receptionist who bowed before she turned around and left the room.
However, before Shun Long could take a look at this room of the Refinement Hall in front of him, Xingyi's voice suddenly sounded from his side, as Xingyi looked at him and said in a gentle but firm tone
''Brother Long, I have to go meet my master.''