Chapter 1047 1047 Absorbing the Immortal Water

''Sigh. If any high-level alchemist could see this, they'd probably curse me until I drop dead...'' As he swallowed more and more drops of Immortal Water, Shun Long couldn't help but lament in his heart about how wasteful he was being.

After all, even a single drop of Immortal Water was considered a priceless treasure in the central continent. It could not only help someone cleanse their body from any residual impurities, but it could also serve as a catalyst for pretty much any high-grade star-rank pill, improving the final grade of the pill even more.

And yet, none of that could compare to the drops' worth in the hands of a body refiner. The pure, unadulterated immortal energy inside these drops and the lack of any aftereffects made them better than any high-grade pill a body cultivator could possibly consume.

Still, Shun Long wasn't using them for any of that.

Instead, he was simply absorbing the faint traces of immortal qi inside those drops, ignoring everything else in the process. Calling something like that a waste of a heavenly treasure was truly an understatement. Most high-level alchemists and body refiners would probably skin him alive if they knew about this.

But Shun Long didn't seem to mind and simply kept going. In just a week, he had already absorbed more than five hundred drops of Immortal Water, allowing him to fully form his 73rd ball of qi and be halfway through the 74th.

Ten days later, the 74th and the 75th balls had also taken shape, and fifteen days later, the 76th qi ball had finally formed too inside the 'Monarch's Hourglass', firmly pushing Shun Long to the middle rank 9 of the Dao King realm.

''Sigh. The immortal qi inside these drops is really faint. I planned to save some of them and use them the next time I concocted some of the golden skeleton pills, but this doesn't look possible anymore.''

As this thought appeared in his mind, Shun Long shook his head and took a deep breath, ignoring the rapidly depleting reserves of his Immortal Water that seemed to be getting shorter with every passing day.

Even so, he didn't regret his actions in the slightest. Despite the faint heartache he felt, he didn't hesitate as he swallowed another batch of Immortal Water drops and began to form his 77th ball of qi.

Back in the 'City of Immortals', Shun Long had intentionally cut his cultivation time short to go to the 'Heavenly Tower' and hunt Guo Chen, the black-robed assassin who had sneak-attacked him back in the Illusion Oasis. He knew that doing so would mean forfeiting any remaining time he had to cultivate and strengthen his foundations any further by absorbing more immortal qi. But it still had to be done.

Besides, even if Shun Long hadn't gone to the Heavenly Tower and had just stayed inside the Five-elements protective formation to cultivate, he knew he wouldn't have enough time to absorb enough immortal qi and reach the peak of the Dao King realm, so going to the tower was ultimately the correct choice.

And now that they'd left the place and were back in the central continent, Shun Long knew that he only had two possible ways to substitute the immortal qi he needed to solidify his foundations in the Dao King realm and make them flawless.

The first way was the drops of Immortal Water.

The second way... was the Immortal-grade spirit stones he'd obtained from the 7th trial.

''Unfortunately, I already have plans for these spirit stones.'' Shun Long thought to himself, before throwing a look at the pile of one hundred spirit stones around Little Black's feet.

...

Time continued to pass while Shun Long cultivated inside the foggy space, his aura growing stronger with every passing day. Even Little Black appeared stunned as he took in the visible changes around his master's body, his azure eyes flashing every so often.

It was clear that as Shun Long approached closer and closer to the peak of the Dao King realm, his body had already started to emit the aura of a pseudo-Dao Emperor!

Still, it took an entire month for his 77th golden ball to fully form before settling inside the 'Monarch's Hourglass', making things even slower than Shun Long had originally estimated. Every day, he was swallowing dozens of Immortal Water drops, but his progress was clearly slowing down the closer he got to the peak of the Dao King realm. By the time he began working on his 78th golden ball of qi, the Immortal Water reserves he had once deemed plentiful had shrunk by more than a third!

Two more months passed in the blink of an eye before a 79th golden ball appeared inside the 'Monarch's Hourglass', this one clearly bigger and brighter than the rest.

Every now and then, Shun Long would feel his body tremble lightly, while his comprehension of his 'Dao of Time' increased alongside his cultivation. When the 80th golden ball was formed, his trembling became more frequent, almost as if his body was struggling to contain his aura!

Then, for the first time in months... Shun Long suddenly winced, as the sensation of his breakthrough gradually turned painful.

His body trembled uncontrollably while the swirling golden qi inside the 'Monarch's Hourglass' surged like a violent river, almost threatening to spill past its confines.

And yet, Shun Long didn't stop. Despite the pain in his dantian that made it feel like it was about to burst, he still pushed through it!

There was no going back now. He would either form his last ball of qi, or he was going to remain a Dao King for the rest of his life!

...

And then, in the tenth month of his seclusion, the 81st ball of qi finally appeared inside the 'Monarch's Hourglass'. Almost simultaneously, Shun Long's eyes snapped open, as an unstoppable aura suddenly filled the foggy space, too. It was the aura of a pseudo-Dao Emperor!

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