Monarch of Time

After storing the bronze token and the 'Sun-blessed spiritual rock' inside the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long sat cross-legged on the ground and waited for the fifth trial to come to an end. And indeed, a few moments later, his figure turned blurry and translucent as a dim silver light enveloped his body, before finally vanishing from the vast green field, leaving the devastated battlefield behind.

The familiar sensation of blurriness blinded his eyesight for a brief moment, but this time it disappeared as quickly as it arrived, allowing Shun Long to have a look at his new surroundings.

For the first time after successfully passing a trial... he didn't find himself at the heart of that plodding ancient hall!

...

Almost at the same time that Shun Long's figure disappeared from the green field, a massive, thunderous commotion began to take place outside the 'Heavenly Tower', as an unbelievable sight occurred.

The gigantic slab of stone that was placed right above the tower's gates began to shimmer with an ethereal, blinding light, before the runes on its surface began to shift and twist as if they were suddenly undergoing a tremendous change.

Then, the luminous golden names on the 'Heavenly Rankings' started to get pushed down one after the other, as a new name began to rise with overwhelming momentum. In the blink of an eye, it had already passed the person ranked 10th and had even pushed down Xuan Long from the Tianxuan dynasty from 9th to 10th place!

The same trend continued and mere moments afterwards, even Jiang Tianfang was pushed down to 8th place as the rising newcomer continued to ascend without showing any signs of stopping!

Then, under the disbelieving gazes of the surrounding Dao Kings, he passed the person in 6th place, Niu Rong, and even Huo Jingyi and Chen Xuefeng, ranked 5th and 4th respectively!

The surrounding Dao Kings wanted to speak, but for some reason, everyone held their breaths and remained silent, as if they were waiting to see how much more the newcomer was going to ascend.

It was only after reaching 4th place that the new name's momentum began to slow down... but slowing down didn't mean stopping.

After a brief moment of respite, it had already pushed down Wei Guoyang from 3rd place to 4th and was slowly encroaching upon the person ranked 2nd, the number one genius and successor of the Huang family, Huang Yun.

Finally, Huang Yun's name was enveloped by a radiant golden light, before it was gradually pushed down to 3rd place, as the rising newcomer's ascension eventually came to a halt!

The crowd of Dao Kings outside the tower's gates now stared at the name in 2nd place of the 'Heavenly Rankings' with gazes filled with incredulity and doubt, before an uproar gradually erupted

''Who the hell is this Shun Long and how can he climb all the way to 2nd place in one go? Is this for real?''

''What the hell is going on with the Heavenly Rankings? This guy didn't just pass 'young lady Niu', he even passed Huang Yun and Wei Luoyang?! Are you telling me that this guy is even more talented than the number one genius of the ancient families and the successor of the 'White Tiger chamber of commerce'?''

The surrounding Dao Kings couldn't believe their own eyes... or to be more precise, the 'Heavenly Tower's' judgement as they stared at the name in 2nd place carved in luminous golden letters

''Shun Long.''

It was one thing for some unknown person to have somehow passed Huo Jingyi, the publicly acclaimed number 2 genius of the 'White Tiger chamber of commerce', and Chen Xuefeng, the young master from the Chen family... but even Wei Luoyang and Huang Yun?

Then, was this unknown person supposed to be the second most talented individual among all Dao Kings and Dao Emperors in the entire central continent?

Although the 'Heavenly Tower' was known to be impartial and extremely mysterious, how could these Dao Kings accept this so easily?

In the second layer of the 'City of Immortals', the proud Dao Emperors stationed at the tower's gates seemed to have similar reactions as well, unable to fathom how someone they had never heard of had managed to dethrone everyone else and was comfortably sitting in the 2nd place of the 'Heavenly Rankings'.

...

And yet, Shun Long was completely oblivious to the commotion his passing of the fifth trial had caused, as he curiously examined his new surroundings at this moment.

This time, he didn't find himself at the heart of that unchanging ancient hall, but at the peak of a tall, unfamiliar mountain that soared way past the clouds. The peak of the mountain pierced through the dome of heaven like a heavenly sword, while its body seemed to span for countless miles downwards, giving off an aura of immortality and grandeur. freёwebnoѵel.com

Shun Long had just arrived at the populated mountain peak, as the thick, pulsing immortal qi in the air assaulted him from every direction, causing him to take a step back and widen his eyes in surprise. It was almost as if the entirety of immortal qi in the 'City of Immortals' originated from this very mountain!

Just as he stepped foot at the peak of the mountain, Shun Long suddenly felt a deep, profound gaze examine him from head to toe, before an old, hoary voice entered his ears

''Hahaha! Congratulations young friend! I have to say, your results this time truly surprised me. Who could expect that you would not only choose to fight against Luoyang, but you would even push him back a few times? How interesting!''

Shun Long turned at the origin of the voice coming from the top of the mountain, as the figure of a plump, purple-robed old man appeared in his eyes. The old man who was sitting cross-legged on the ground had sparse white hair at the sides of his head, while his crown was completely bald. His amiable smile and the aura of friendliness he exuded made him seem like a friendly, harmless elder who was just casually conversing with a junior!

And yet, despite the friendly smile on his face and the easygoing look in his deep brown eyes, Shun Long could tell that this person in front of him was anything but a normal elder.

No, although the old man had thoroughly suppressed his aura, not allowing even a bit of it to leak outwards, from the way the immortal qi around him swirled -as if it was attracted by the old man's mere presence- Shun Long could tell how extraordinary this person seated at the dais was.

Even if he was not a bonafide true immortal, this old man was, at the very least a late-stage Earth Immortal expert... and an extraordinary one at that!