Monarch of Time

In the courtyard outside of the room, the 'Silver-winged panther king' opened its eyes, and without any moment to lose, it quickly arrived outside the room.

Although it could feel that its connection with Shun Long was still intact, but even with its soul sense, the peak rank 5 magic beast was unable to locate its master.

ROAR!

The black panther let out a violent roar towards the sky, sending shivers to everyone else who was staying in the inn.

Liu Mei opened the door of the room, only to see the black panther searching for Shun Long in confusion.

The young woman understood why the panther had come outside the room, as she then patted its head with her soft hands, but she still couldn't hide the worry in her eyes. After all, it wasn't normal for someone to disappear into thin air, especially under the nose of a peak rank 5 magic beast who was guarding the room.

At the same time that Liu Mei was placating the black panther, Shun Long opened his eyes, as he then found himself within an unknown space that he had never seen before.

It was a small place of a little more than 40 square meters, surrounded by thick white fog from all sides.

Shun Long took a look around him, but aside from a patch of vibrant grass on the ground, as well as the white fog in the surroundings, there didn't seem to be anything else in this place.

Soon, a look of disbelief had covered Shun Long's face, as he immediately closed his eyes and started to sense his surroundings. 

If it was the Shun Long from a few hours ago, he probably wouldn't have been unable to notice this, but after breaking through to the Heaven grade, his comprehension of the Dao of Time was simply incomparable to before.

He could now clearly feel, that the flow of time in this place was very similar to his herb garden.

In other words, time in this place was flowing faster than the outside world.

Speechless, Shun Long sent his spiritual strength inside his spiritual space, only to see the 'Stone of Time' that was rotating slowly in a clockwise motion, as it emitted a bright purple light.

The purple light quickly 'assaulted' Shun Long's spiritual strength, as countless images flashed through his mind one after the other.

Shun Long felt a ripple around his body, as he suddenly found himself in front of the gates of a majestic red palace.

This palace was thousands of meters tall, while sculptures of countless creatures decorated its surroundings. Some of these statues were barely a meter tall (3ft), while others were as tall as a few thousand meters, all of them seemed as if they had been made by the best sculptor under the Heavens.

Among these statues, Shun Long saw dragons, tigers, vermilion birds, phoenixes, kilins... and even goblins, elves and dwarfs. Nine-tailed foxes as well as giants that were holding huge clubs, were also amidst the ranks of these statues.

The lifelike expressions on the statues' faces, made it hard for Shun Long to believe that these were just inanimate objects. 

If Shun Long had to compare this palace with Cui Guoliang's, then the Dao King would seem like a beggar, flaunting his wealth in front of a tycoon.

All of a sudden, a creaking sound was heard, as the gigantic gates of the red palace had started to open.

Shun Long took a step back as he saw the gigantic gates slowly opening in front of him, but to his surprise, there didn't seem to be anyone inside the palace.

Just as Shun Long was hesitating over whether he should enter inside or not, the 'Stone of Time' that was still rotating inside his spiritual space, abruptly emitted a mix of purple and blue lights, before it sent a colorful beam inside the palace.

The palace itself started rumbling, looking like it was just hit by an earthquake, as a purple beam of light shot up, from the depths of the palace high into the sky.

The sky immediately darkened as multiple thunderclaps sounded from the direction behind Shun Long, all of them heading towards the palace.

Shun Long was about to turn his head around and have a look at the scene behind him, when suddenly, his vision turned blurry as he found himself back in that place surrounded by fog.

For a moment, he was completely stunned, as his mind could barely comprehend what had happened.

The 'Stone of Time' seemed to have teleported him outside of a huge palace, before it sent a colorful beam of light inside it. Before Shun Long could get a clear grasp of the situation, he quickly found himself back inside this space, where time was flowing much faster than the outside world.

Sending his spiritual strength inside his spiritual space, Shun Long saw that the 'Stone of Time' had already stopped rotating. As his spiritual strength 'touched' the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long soon found himself back inside his room. 

''Long-ge!''

Shun Long heard Liu Mei's concerned voice behind him, as he then felt her soft hands hugging his waist.

Turning around, Shun Long saw the beautiful young woman in front of him, with hints of tears still in her eyes.

Shaking his head, he sighed as his hands took her in his embrace as he said

''I'm sorry that I worried you.''

''It's okay''

Liu Mei shook her head as she replied with a beautiful smile on her face.

She didn't ask Shun Long what had happened to him or where he went. Instead, she could finally put down her worries when she saw him returning back in one piece.

-

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At the same time, outside the palace that Shun Long was standing on a few moments ago, 2 old men with blurry facial features were staring at the sky in front of them. 

The old men didn't speak to each other, even though a scene of utter pandemonium was taking place in front of their own eyes. 

Finally, a few minutes later, the old man on the right couldn't stay silent anymore, as he looked at the old man next to him and asked in a fearful tone

''Brother Hu... do you think that... the 5th lord has returned?''