Staring at the withered 'Golden light flower' in his hands, Shun Long simply threw a single glance at its remaining 4 petals that had already withered as well before he placed his attention back in the cauldron.
Unlike the rank 5 and rank 6 medicinal herbs whose medicinal essence had already been extracted and coalesced together, forming the embryonic form of a half-completed pill, the 3 petals from the 'Golden light flower' inside the cauldron had yet to turn into medicinal essence, let alone merge into the pill.
Even after they were refined under the purple-colored earth flame's terrifying heat for more than an hour, the 3 petals had only turned into a reddish hue at this point, and there were no signs of their medicinal essence appearing anytime soon.
And yet, Shun Long didn't stop, and instead, he increased the temperature of the purple-colored earth flame even further, causing the temperature inside the foggy space in the 'Stone of Time' to rise as well.
Even peak fifth stage body refinement cultivators would find this heat extremely uncomfortable if they were standing next to Shun Long right now, but Little Black and Little Silver didn't pay any attention to it as they stared at the scene in front of them.
Naturally, for a peak rank 6 magic beast like Little Silver, the heat of the earth flame wasn't enough to truly threaten it just yet.
As for Little Black, the black dragon could barely feel the change in his temperature and wasn't uncomfortable with it in the slightest.
Half a day later, the 3 petals of the 'Golden light flower' had finally began to melt, as bright, colorful drops of medicinal essence started to drip from the 3 petals' surface, slowly merging with the half-completed pill below them.
In the blink of an eye, 2 more days had passed before the medicinal essence inside the petals had been fully extracted, as it slowly fused with the embryonic form of the pill inside the cauldron.
One more week quickly passed like this before Shun Long's alchemy cauldron suddenly began to tremble, attracting both Little Black's and Little Silver's attention.
The trembling was weak and was almost imperceptible in the beginning, but as time continued to pass, it started to become even more intense, while cracks had also started to appear on the cauldron's surface.
Naturally, these changes didn't escape Little Black's and Little Silver's eyes who turned their attention towards Shun Long soon after.
At this point, Shun Long could also feel that his spiritual strength had been almost completely depleted and that he was extremely close to reaching his limits as well.
Of course, in his heart, he also understood that this was only natural.
After all, the 'Heavenly purity pill' was a rank 7 pill, and an extremely difficult one to refine even among other rank 7 pills. Although Shun Long's spiritual strength was equivalent to that of a 1-star alchemist, it was barely enough to allow him to try his hands on the pill refinement.
Like this, Shun Long's alchemy cauldron continued to tremble for more than a minute before it finally stopped.
Suppressing his urge to close his eyes and fall asleep, Shun Long gritted his teeth and propped himself up from the ground, as he stretched out his right hand and removed the lid of the cauldron, revealing the content inside it.
The moment that the cauldron's lid was removed, Shun Long could feel the fragrant scent of medicinal herbs assaulting his senses, making him feel like he had suddenly stepped foot into a rich medicine garden, while even his spiritual strength had started to rapidly recover. Just a single whiff of this scent had actually been enough to make all of his dizziness go away.
A moment later, Shun Long's gaze fell on the purple-colored earth flame at the center of the cauldron that had already started to die down, while in the heart of the flames, a single pill was lying there, emitting a blinding white light.
Waving his hand, Shun Long took out an empty pill bottle and stored the pill inside, before he sat cross-legged on the ground and closed his eyes, as he started to recover his spiritual strength.
…
At the same time, in the Northern Sovereign's own courtyard, the silver-armored Quan Lin knelt in front of the Northern Sovereign and said in a serious voice
''City lord, I have a presumable request that I hope you can grant me!''
The Northern Sovereign looked at Quan Lin and nodded her head before she answered calmly
''Speak. What is it? As long as your request is reasonable, I will naturally allow it.''
Raising his head, Quan Lin faced the silver-robed Northern Sovereign, and after a few moments of silence he said solemnly
''I hope that the city lord can allow me to enter the 'City of Immortals'!''
The Northern Sovereign narrowed her eyes as she stared at the silver-armored Quan Lin in front of her, her gaze similar to a pair of sharp daggers that seemed to be gazing directly at Quan Lin's soul.
Although Quan Lin was a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor and the strongest of the 12 commanders in the Northern Sovereign's army, when faced with the terrifying pressure that the Northern Sovereign was emitting right now, even he wasn't able to stand straight and had to suppress himself from trembling in her presence.
The Northern Sovereign fell silent for a few moments, before she shook her head and said
''Quan Lin, although you are a peak rank 9 Dao Emperor and you are indeed qualified to enter the second level of the 'City of Immortals', you should know that cultivation isn't everything in that place. Talent and luck both play important roles as well.
Besides, even as a Dao Emperor, it doesn't mean that you will have an easier time in the second level than the Dao Kings who enter the first level. The level of difficulty you will have to face will practically be the same as them!''
