''She... succeeded?'' A young man dressed in red robes whose cultivation was at the peak of rank 9 in the Nascent Soul couldn't help but ask in surprise, as he stared at the peerless beauty who was sitting in the midst of the undead corpses.

The bones of the 1000 skeletons and the undead knights, as well as the Death Eater's corpse, were all sprawled around Liu Mei as they covered her surroundings, while Liu Mei herself was still sitting in their midst with her eyes closed.

No signs of pain could be seen on her face any longer, while her aura was still rising at an alarming rate.

With every passing moment, the surrounding disciples could all feel the aura of death around Liu Mei's body becoming even stronger. This was the qualitative change that cultivators would go through after reaching the Dao King realm!

A few moments later, Liu Mei's cultivation and aura had both stabilized at the early rank 1 of the Dao King realm, as she finally opened her eyes.

Looking at the soul-stirring smile that appeared on Liu Mei's face, Shun Long heaved out a sigh of relief, before his body vanished on the spot, appearing right next to her.

At the same time, smiles appeared on Bai Longtian's and Xingyi's faces as well, after seeing that Liu Mei had truly succeeded in her breakthrough, while Jiang Chen nodded his head calmly.

''Mei'er, how are you feeling?'' Shun Long asked in a concerned tone.

Although he could see that Liu Mei was alright now, he had clearly sensed her soul weakening earlier, teetering on the verge of collapse.

Shaking her head, Liu Mei took a step forward and hugged Shun Long affectionately before she answered

''Long-ge, I am fine now. I simply didn't expect the Heavenly Tribulation to be this terrifying. After the first bolt of lightning entered my spiritual sea, I could feel my spiritual space shaking and it almost collapsed.

Thankfully, the energy inside the first lightning bolt healed my spiritual space and allowed me to wake up... but if my soul had been any weaker, I don't think I would have survived.''

Shun Long nodded his head with a grave expression on his face when he heard Liu Mei's words, while serious looks appeared on Jiang Chen's, Xingyi's, and Bai Longtian's eyes soon after.

Liu Mei's spiritual strength had already reached the peak of the Nascent Soul stage before her breakthrough, and she was even superior to most other cultivators at the same level.

Only monsters like Shun Long would be stronger than her in terms of the soul.

Even the peak rank 9 Nascent Soul beast tamer that Shun Long had faced during the Martial Roll of Honor tournament, Qiu Yun, wouldn't be stronger than Liu Mei in terms of the strength and the purity of his soul either!

For Liu Mei to have nearly died during her breakthrough, Jiang Chen, Xingyi, and Bai Longtian all understood that they probably wouldn't fare much better than her either during their own breakthroughs.

Although Liu Mei was the only one among them who had comprehended a supreme Dao, making her Heavenly Tribulation extremely powerful, it was very likely that Xingyi who had comprehended a unique Dao and possessed a rare unique physique as well, wouldn't have a much weaker Heavenly Tribulation either.

Naturally, the same went for Bai Longtian who had comprehended the Dao of Light and the Dao of the Buddha, 2 unique Daos, and was also born with a rare unique physique too.

As for Jiang Chen, not only had he comprehended 2 unique Daos as well, the Demonic Dao and the Dao of Darkness, but he also possessed a unique physique and he was even born with an immortal-grade bloodline.

Most likely, Jiang Chen's Heavenly Tribulation would be even stronger than Liu Mei's!

However, everyone understood that the most terrifying Heavenly Tribulation was probably going to be Shun Long's.

Liu Mei, Xingyi, Bai Longtian, and Jiang Chen, all turned their gazes towards Shun Long at the same time.

If it was purely in terms of talent, Jiang Chen and the rest were all certain, that Shun Long would be standing at the peak of the cultivation world, and very few people would be able to compare with him in this regard.

Although Shun Long wasn't born with a unique physique, Jiang Chen and the rest all knew that the body refinement cultivation technique that he was training in, had made Shun Long's body even more terrifying than other unique physiques.

Even Jiang Chen and Bai Longtian didn't want to spar with Shun Long since they couldn't break past the defenses of his 'Monarch's Eternal body' and injure him.

Adding in the fact that Shun Long had comprehended 2 supreme Daos and even had an immortal-grade bloodline as well, it was unknown how many people would be able to be mentioned in the same breath as him even throughout the entire central region.

Although Jiang Chen and the others didn't know how talented the strongest geniuses of the central region really were, they guessed that those who would be able to compete with Shun Long would most likely be counted on the fingers of one hand.

However, one thing was for certain. Shun Long's Heavenly Tribulation would really shake the King's Palace!

A moment later, Shun Long suddenly turned his gaze towards 2 young men who were stealthily leaving the area while Liu Mei was talking to him, before a cold look flashed in his eyes.

Under Liu Mei's astounded eyes, his body instantly disappeared, appearing right in front of the long-haired young man and the stout, bald man who were about to leave.

The bald man and the long-haired young man were both surprised by Shun Long's sudden action, but they reacted extremely quickly as they took a few steps back, opening up the distance between themselves and Shun Long, before the long-haired young man asked coldly

''What do you want?''

-

Author's note: 3

/5