Monarch of Time

The yellow-robed Wei Peng's gaze seemed to have turned into one of focus and pure determination, as the young master of the Wei family stood up as well. Taking a look at Xu Tai and the rest who were already walking towards the illusionary silver door, he no longer hesitated, as he cupped his hands at Shun Long and said solemnly

''Brother Shun, it looks like I'll be challenging the fourth trial right away. Originally, I was planning on sharing a drink or two with you first, but my circumstances have changed. It seems I can no longer idle in this place. I hope brother Shun can understand.''

Waving his hand dismissively, Shun Long nodded as he looked at the restless yellow-robed young man before he answered with a light smile

''Don't worry, I understand. If it's fated, let's have a drink on the next floor then.''

Wei Peng's eyes flashed with a deep look as he stared at the mysterious azure-robed young man in front of him, before eventually nodding his head. A moment later, he followed Xu Tai and the others as he headed towards the silver door as well.

Naturally, Wei Peng didn't miss the subtle insinuation behind Shun Long's words. Clearly, despite having heard about the immense difficulty of the fourth trial, Shun Long still felt certain of passing it and advancing to the next floor.

A few moments later, Shun Long was now the only person left inside the vast white hall.

Even those people like Ming Guo who were hesitant in the beginning, eventually stepped forward and challenged the fourth trial. Despite her original dejected look, the young princess of the Ming family seemed to have found newfound vigor that allowed her to step forward this time.

Of course, Shun Long could also understand the reason behind her decision. It was for that same reason that Wei Peng, Xu Tai, and the others all decided to challenge the fourth trial, after the blue-robed Chen Yating had made the first move.

The eight ancient families were all equal in hindsight, their power creating a certain equilibrium between them. However, this also meant that if anyone from those families decided to step forward and take on the next trial, the others would have no option but to follow suit. After all, the honor and future of their families were on the line. How could they allow another family to outshine them? This was the burden those successors of the ancient families carried.

Sitting cross-legged on the cold marble floor, Shun Long put all those unnecessary thoughts at the back of his mind and focused on absorbing the pure immortal qi in the air around him.

Although the third trial hadn't really injured him, it had managed to drain the majority of his qi, causing Shun Long to feel somewhat spent at the end of it. Although he hadn't actually used his 'Dao of Time' or his 'Dao of Space' during the trial, and neither had he made use of his 'Dao of Heavenly Tribulation', the level of sword aura was still enough to greatly sap his qi after using it for so long!

...

It took Shun Long more than half a day to fully replenish his depleted qi balls.

Surprisingly, during this time, neither Wei Peng nor anyone else among those who had left for the fourth trial had appeared back on the floor. Even the more hesitant Ming Guo and those like her hadn't returned yet.

Of course, Shun Long couldn't know whether they had succeeded or not, whether they had failed and gotten kicked out of the tower, or if they were still fighting inside the trial.

However, at this point, he was more curious about Liu Mei and the rest instead.

Had they already passed the fourth floor or were they still challenging the lower floors? Shun Long had no idea since he hadn't seen any of them during this time, but he had a feeling that they shouldn't be that far from the fourth floor either.

Standing up, he stretched his body for a bit, and after searching through the 'Stone of Time' for something to eat, he walked towards the illusionary door as well.

'Thankfully', on the way from the 'Endless Desert' to the 'Heavenly Tower', Shun Long and his group had been attacked by plenty of rank 6 magic beasts, most of whom had large amounts of meat on them, so he had plenty of food stored inside the 'Stone of Time'. Even with the gluttonous black dragon voraciously devouring large amounts of magic beast meat every day, Shun Long still had enough food left to last him a long while. At the very least, he should have enough for at least a year...

Of course, Dao Kings could still survive without food or water for a very long time, as long as they could absorb the spiritual qi around them. However, after being in seclusion for so long inside the 'Endless Desert', Shun Long could feel his body craving for something to eat!

...

A few moments later, Shun Long finally stood in front of the illusionary silver door.

As he placed his hand on the door's mirage-like surface, that unwanted nauseous sensation overcame him once again, before his surroundings turned blurry once more.

This time however, it took less than a second for his vision to return, as Shun Long found himself in the heart of a verdant, lush forest.

Surrounded by gigantic pine trees as far as the eye could see, with wide twisting vines around their monstrous trunks, each of them as large as an adult human, the dense forest stretched out in every direction.

Each of those pine trees seemed to be more than 30 meters (99ft) in height, completely blotting out the sky above the forest. And yet, despite their enormous size and intimidating appearance, the thick trees around him weren't what caught Shun Long's attention.

Instead, it was the 3 figures that were sitting cross-legged beneath one of those trees, each of them facing the other 2 as they formed a triangle shape.

Almost at the same time that he had noticed them, the 3 figures seemed to have opened their eyes as well, as they simultaneously turned their gazes towards Shun Long.

The first figure was a young man with messy black hair who was holding a large staff.

The second figure was a young woman with short auburn hair and flaming red eyes.

But it was the third figure, the one that looked the most ordinary that drew Shun Long's attention.

It was a man in his late twenties, with a plain-looking face and long black hair that reached all the way to his waist. What drew Shun Long's attention, however, was the familiar energy around this man's body, a type of energy that Shun Long possessed as well. It was the energy of someone who trained in the 'Dao of Space'!