Although the old man could protect himself from Shun Long's 'Time Siphon', the same couldn't be said about the 'Raging wind bull' that he had created.
Using the 'Time Siphon', Shun Long successfully stole the 'time' inside the bull without any problem.
Since the bull was created purely from the old man's qi, Shun Long easily absorbed all of its qi for himself, replenishing the qi that he had spent to use his 'Time Siphon' while putting the old man in an extremely unfavorable situation at the same time.
Sitting inside the room with his eyes closed, Shun Long placed his full attention on his Dao of Time, and more importantly his 'Time Siphon' for the next 2 days.
He knew that as he reached closer and closer to the Dao King realm, his Dao of Time itself would also experience significant changes, and Shun Long guessed that the 'Time Siphon' that he had comprehended just now was only a single part of it.
Finally, 2 days later, Shun Long opened his eyes and stood up from the meditative cushion that he was sitting before leaving the room of the inn, as he headed towards the gates of the Holy city.
Flying past the city gates, he turned his attention towards the enormous mountain in the distance.
Today was the day that Shun Long had promised to meet Liu Mei and the rest in front of the gates of the Holy sect.
Without any hesitation, he soared in the sky as he headed towards the Holy mountain's peak.
20 minutes later, the familiar white palace that had its gates wide open once again appeared in his eyes as he reached the peak of the mountain, with the 2 white-robed Elders standing guard in front of it just like the last time, almost as if they never moved from that place.
Just like the last time, Shun Long could see many disciples entering and leaving the Holy sect at all times, with most of them either going to complete the missions that they had accepted, or going towards the Holy city to purchase items or for some other reasons.
Taking a look around the city gates, Shun Long quickly spotted the familiar silhouette of a gorgeous young woman with black hair, whose peerlessly beautiful face and her limpid black eyes could ensnare the soul of both men and women alike.
Next to her was a stunning blond-haired young woman with enchanting green eyes and a bright smile on her face, whose features weren't considered inferior to the black-haired young woman's at all.
A black-haired young man with deep blue eyes and sword-like eyebrows was also standing next to the 2 women with a calm and gentle smile on his face.
The moment that Shun Long's gaze fell on the 3 people, they all turned their attention towards him when they saw him walking in their direction.
''Long-ge!''
''Brother Long!''
Liu Mei was the first one to speak as she exclaimed out in a voice full of joy the moment that her eyes spotted Shun Long, while Xie Xingyi's voice followed soon after, as the 2 women walked towards Shun Long at the same time.
The black-haired Bai Longtian smiled gently as well, as he walked towards Shun Long and cupped his hands before he greeted him
''Brother, it's good to see you again.''
Shun Long smiled and nodded his head at Bai Longtian and the 2 overjoyed girls, while even being somewhat surprised by their sudden increase in cultivation, before his eyes started to look around for Jiang Chen as well.
He was the only one missing from his group, but the day wasn't over yet so he wasn't surprised.
Besides, from their group, aside from him, Jiang Chen was most likely the strongest one when they left the Holy sect.
Even if he couldn't use his bloodline of the 'Demonic Crow of Darkness' because the 3 month period had yet to pass since they joined the Holy sect, he was still strong enough to ensure his survival if something happened.
Liu Mei didn't care about anything as she went forward and hugged Shun Long tightly, almost as if she wanted to feel his body scent that she had missed for the past month, before she affectionately held his arm and looked at him in the eyes.
Shun Long smiled gently and patted her head before he asked the 3 of them
''How were the missions that you chose? Judging from how much your cultivation has increased during the past month, none of you probably had any trouble with it.''
Of course, how could the 3 of them had faced much trouble when they were completing D-rank personal missions, since their cultivation had already increased by leaps and bounds during this time?
The aura that Liu Mei was emitting was already that of an early rank 5 Nascent Soul stage cultivator, while Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi seemed to have reached the middle of rank 5 of the Nascent Soul and even looked like they were just a step away from the peak of rank 5 as well!
This made Shun Long extremely surprised, since before they had left the Holy sect, Liu Mei was still at the middle of rank 3 in the Nascent Soul, while Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi were both at the early rank 4 of the Nascent Soul.
It was one thing for Liu Mei's cultivation to increase explosively since she had most likely absorbed the qi, not just from the middle rank 4 and the peak rank 4 Nascent Soul stage criminals that she had to deal with, but from other enemies as well, which was exactly what her 'Blood Absorption art' was used for, but Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi's cultivation increasing so quickly was extremely surprising.
After all, even if they had an entire month to cultivate in seclusion after returning back to the sect, they shouldn't be able to increase their cultivation so quickly.
This wasn't a matter of talent, but simply the difference between their cultivation techniques. In the end, Liu Mei's 'Blood Absorption art' was one that Little Black had personally handed to her, and despite all of the drawbacks and risks it had, it was still one that allowed her to keep up with Shun Long's speed of advancement.
Almost as if he had actually guessed what Shun Long was thinking about, Bai Longtian turned his gaze towards the Holy sect's gates behind them before he said seriously
''After I completed the 'master and disciple ceremony' with my master, he gave me a high-grade rank 5 pill as a welcoming gift, and said that that pill would allow me to increase my cultivation by a full minor-rank, but that it's only effective for cultivators who are in the middle stages of the Nascent Soul.
After consuming the pill, not only did I reach the early rank 5 of the Nascent Soul, but I even reached the middle of rank 5 soon after.''
Xie Xingyi had a surprised look on her face when she heard Bai Longtian's words, and turning her gaze towards Shun Long she nodded her head a moment later before she said
''Brother Long... it's actually the same for me. After the 'master and disciple ceremony', master gave me a high-grade rank 5 pill as well with the same effects.''
Shun Long looked at Bai Longtian and Xie Xingyi with a look of surprise in his eyes, as he suddenly realized what was going on a moment after.
Of course, not every master would give their disciples their most rare and prized possessions like Elder Xuan did with Liu Mei, and Bai Longtian's and Xie Xingyi's masters were the same.
Despite the fact that they favored the 2 of them since they were extremely talented, and even accepted them as personal disciples, they couldn't afford to give their most important treasures to every single disciple that they accepted.
Some Elders accepted a handful of disciples at most like Elder Xuan, but others accepted more than a few dozen personal disciples!
Even Elder Xuan who had given Liu Mei her personal pendant was actually unwilling to part with it in her heart. If it wasn't for Liu Mei having comprehended the same Dao as her master, she wouldn't have given it to her and would have most likely simply given her a pill like the one that Xie Xingyi and Bai Longtian had received from their masters.
This was why it made sense for most of the Elders of the sect, to give the same welcoming gift to most of their disciples.
Compared to Xie Xingyi's and Bai Longtian's master, Liu Mei's senior sister, Dong Ai had actually received a complete Saint middle-grade cultivation technique, its worth being simply incomparable to a single high-grade rank 5 pill!
As for Liu Mei's pendant, that was even rarer than that.
Although that single high-grade rank 5 pill was relatively rare and could increase one's cultivation by a full minor rank, while in Xie Xingyi's and Bai Longtian's situations it had even increased their cultivation by more than that, comparing it with a life-saving treasure that could take on the attack of even a late-stage Dao Emperor was at an entirely different level!
Even normal early and some middle-stage Dao Emperors would be willing to pay incredible prices to get their hands on Liu Mei's pendant, forget about someone like Dong Ai.