Everyone in the room was silent when they heard Sheng Jun's words.

The old king of the Shentian dynasty, turned his attention to the 2 old men from the 'Alchemists' Guild', as he asked in a slightly expectant tone

''Is there any hope for the main 'Alchemists' Guild' to help us?''

The 2 old men turned their heads to look at each other with a hopeless expression on their faces, before the old man who was sitting the closest to Sheng Jun took the initiative to answer

''Old man Jun, you should know the answer to this already... The main 'Alchemists' Guild' is governed by the Feng family, who has a good relationship with the Demon Emperor Palace.

We also know what would happen if the Demon Emperor Palace took control of the Night star continent but... when we requested from the headquarters to intervene, their answer was that the 'Alchemists' Guild branches in the continent would not be affected by the Demon Emperor Palace in any way.''

Everyone was disappointed when they heard the old alchemist's response, but his answer had been within their expectations.

After all, everyone here was a person of high status in the Night star continent, and they were privy to secrets that normal Dao Kings would never be aware of.

Seeing that silence had permeated the room once again, one of the 2 stunning women from the dark elf race coughed once, attracting everyone's attention to her, as she spoke in a somewhat angry but at the same time hopeless tone

''Even if we really put all of our attention into raising the younger generation, do you really think that anyone of them will be at a high enough level, to enter the Holy sect in just 3 years of time?''

Turning her head to look at Sheng Jun, the dark elf woman continued

''Old man Jun, do you really have that much confidence in Sheng Huang? Or do you perhaps think that the test for the Holy sect may not be that hard for your own grandson?

I don't think that it's good to bet everything on the younger generation. We have all been there before, so I'm sure that everyone here remembers the cruelty of those tests.

How many people will die this time? Which one of you can say with confidence, that your descendants or your disciples can successfully survive, and pass the fourth test?

If they don't, do you really think that the Demon Emperor Palace will have the slightest misgivings in taking over the Night star continent?''

After a brief pause, the red-haired dark elf woman looked at everyone who was seated around her, as she then continued

''I think it's actually better for us, to all enter the Dragon Lord's villa together, and try to look for a treasure that will help us breakthrough to the Emperor realm. I refuse to believe that the core of the villa doesn't have at least one such item inside it.''

Sheng Jun's wife, Qiao Lifen, looked at the dark elf woman with undisguised mockery in her eyes, and without waiting for anyone else to speak, she replied

''Yi Huian, do you really think that you are the only one who has thought about this? Me and Sheng Jun have entered inside the villa more times than anyone else here... there is simply no way to forcefully breakthrough to the core of the villa by using force.''

Seeing that the red-haired Yi Huian had fallen silent, Qiao Lifen continued in a forceful tone

''Let me ask you then, is there any other alternative, aside from putting all of our hopes onto the younger generation? Do you think that we can take on the Demon Emperor Palace by ourselves in that case?

Although no one of us probably considers themselves a hero, if we can't even protect the place where our families live in, then what's the point of cultivating in the first place?

You should know that, once the Demon Emperor Palace takes over the Night star continent, blood will start flowing in rivers, and even I can't estimate how many mortals and cultivators alike will die!''

Seeing that no one else was speaking after Qiao Lifen, the elderly woman from the 'Mercenaries' Association' stood up from her chair, and as her eyes swept over everyone around her, they settles on Sheng Jun, as she then spoke in a hoarse voice

''I agree with Yi Huian. I don't believe that anyone from the younger generation is more talented than we were in our youth.

However... no one of us here has any confidence in breaking through the Dao Emperor realm on their own, otherwise, we would have already attempted that long ago. Without a Dao Emperor realm expert, our Night star continent will not have any protection, so as much as I may not like it, I will agree with Sheng Jun and Qiao Lifen this time.

Our 'Mercenaries' Association' agrees!''

The middle-aged man from the 'Mercenaries' Association' stayed silent, indicating that he had also agreed with the elderly woman's decision.

Sheng Jun nodded his head when he heard this, before his eyes then stared at the other 6 people around him, as he waited for their decision.

At the same time, while the bigshots from the 5 peak powers in the Heaven's Dome city were trying to come to an agreement, Shun Long had entered inside the foggy place of the 'Stone of TIme'.

His goal right now, was to advance to the peak of the Heaven grade as quickly as possible, before he started to refine the rank 4 'Golden Jade spirit tree' that he had gotten from the entrance of the half-fiend village, into rank 4 'Spirit enhancing pills'.

The 'Heaven swallowing vine' in front of him, was quickly swallowing the middle-grade spirit stones, as an unprecedented amount of pure qi had started flowing around Shun Long's body.

The pure qi inside the middle-grade spirit stones, was actually incomparable to the qi from the low-grade ones.

As Shun Long absorbed the pure qi from the 'Heaven swallowing vine', he could feel the qi ball that he was forming in his hand, as it quickly turned into a bright golden color.

Almost 2 months had passed like this inside the foggy place in the 'Stone of TIme', when a popping sound was heard from Shun Long's body, as his cultivation had reached the early rank 9 in Heaven grade.