Chapter 908 Consecutive breakthroughs (1)
The days slowly turned into weeks, the weeks eventually turned into months, and the months gradually turned into years... yet the silence within the 'Five-elements protective formation' wasn't disturbed by anyone or anything, as Shun Long and his group continued to cultivate without stop, constantly absorbing the vast amounts of immortal qi that the 'Heaven Swallowing vine' unceasingly produced.
Occasionally, the sound of fighting would shatter the stillness and quietness of the Endless Desert as the sound of metal clashing with itself could be heard, but even that would only be momentary, like a cool gust of wind briefly passing by, before the surroundings quickly turned calm and serene once again.
Naturally, groups fighting each other over fortuitous opportunities were anything but rare inside the 'City of Immortals', especially as time continued to pass and opportunities naturally became fewer and fewer, but none of that mattered to Shun Long and the rest.
After all, very few fateful opportunities would be on the same level, as the effects of the pure immortal qi that the 'Heaven Swallowing vine' continuously refined in this place.
Besides, after clashing with that peak rank 9 Dao King, Mao Huang, back in the 'Illusion Oasis', Liu Mei and the others all came to realize that they had truly underestimated the geniuses of the central continent!
With their former cultivation bases, even the most average of peak rank 9 Dao Kings would be able to easily toy with them as they pleased, and they wouldn't even be able to so much as fight back against them!
That was why, before venturing out to explore the rest of the 'City of Immortals' again, they all had to increase their own cultivation bases to a satisfying level first.
..
As the 5th-year mark gradually came to an end, vast amounts of pure immortal qi continued to gather around Shun Long and the others just as they had constantly done during these past years, when suddenly, a series of consecutive popping sounds filled the air coming from Liu Mei's direction!
Those sounds were originally weak, sounding like water bubbles popping, but as time continued to pass, their intensity gradually increased, and in just a few minutes, they had already turned into powerful sonic booms that caused gusts of wind to whip out around Liu Mei, pushing everything away from her!
Soon, even Bai Longtian and the others who were sitting a good distance away from her felt the commotion affecting them, as they all broke out from their cultivation states and turned their attention towards her.
Of course, Shun Long was no different from them. In fact, the moment those popping sounds emerged from Liu Mei's direction he was the first one to open his eyes, before a rare expression of surprise quickly covered his face.
Naturally, he knew that those popping sounds were none other than the sounds of Liu Mei's dantian expanding violently right now, indicating that she was about to breakthrough to the peak of the Dao King realm!
Whenever Dao Kings were about to advance from the middle of rank 9 to the peak, their dantian would forcefully expand as much as possible, allowing them to absorb as much qi from their surroundings as they could before completing their breakthrough.
This was why, many cultivators in the central continent considered their breakthrough to the peak of the Dao King realm almost as important as their breakthrough to the Dao Emperor realm in the future.
After all, the more qi they absorbed during this breakthrough to the peak of the Dao King realm, the higher their chances would be to reach the Sovereign realm later on! In fact, plenty of Dao Emperors had been stranded in the Dao Emperor realm their entire lives, unable to truly become Sovereigns, all due to their weak foundations back when they were still Dao Kings!
The Grand Elder of the Holy sect was one such example as well. No matter what he did later on, there were very few things that could help him breakthrough to the Sovereign realm afterwards, all because of his weak foundations in the Dao King realm!
At this moment, Shun Long's eyes glittered with a hint of anticipation as he stared silently at Liu Mei's distant figure madly absorbing the pure immortal qi around her.
He knew that during this breakthrough, there were only 3 things that could affect the final result. A person's own natural talent, their cultivation technique, as well as their own willpower.
As for the Dao they had comprehended or the unique physique one was born with, it wouldn't provide them with any help!
Thankfully, there were no signs of the 'Blood Absorption art' affecting Liu Mei's mental state right now, allowing her to completely focus on absorbing the qi from the 'Heaven Swallowing vine'.
Shun Long wasn't sure if it was because Liu Mei's mind had grown more resilient with time, or if it was the effects of the pure immortal qi counteracting the negative side-effects of the 'Blood Absorption art', but from the looks of it, Liu Mei didn't seem to need any help to complete her breakthrough.
Shun Long then watched as Liu Mei's silky black hair fluttered tempestuously in the wind, before her aura began to grow stronger and stronger with every passing moment, and like a caged beast that was finally about to break free, an incense stick of time later, it abruptly exploded outwards as it broke past the last hurdle of the middle rank 9 in the Dao King realm before it eventually reached the peak!
The moment this happened, Liu Mei's willowy figure trembled intensely, before her body started to pulse with an extremely thick, almost overwhelming aura of death that soon began to spread in her surroundings!
Thankfully, other than Shun Long and the others, there was nothing else in Liu Mei's immediate vicinity, aside from the innumerable grains of sand that covered the surface of the 'Endless Desert', so no one else was affected!
And yet, to Xingyi's and the others' astonishment, the moment that Liu Mei's aura of death 'touched' the grains of sand around her, the sand's natural color quickly began to fade as the original lively orange quickly turned into a darker shade of brown, before eventually turning into black!
It was almost as if all signs of vitality had completely vanished from the sand around Liu Mei in mere moments, leaving behind nothing but those black, lifeless grains of sand that were now filled with that thick scent of death.