The Stone of Time stopped rotating, while Little Black looked at his master with both a relieved, as well as a curious look.

Although Shun Long had already mentioned to Little Black in the past, that such a situation had happened once again, back when Shun Long had appeared in front of that red palace, the black dragon still couldn't feel any relief.

After all, the 'Stone of Time' was still an unknown treasure, and no one knew its real capabilities.

If one day, Shun Long was sent to a dangerous place, with enemies far beyond what he could handle, wouldn't he then be doomed then?

''No! Master is my only family!''

The moment that these thoughts flashed through Little Black's mind, the black dragon shook his head immediately rejecting them, before he turned to look at Shun Long who was still looking around him.

Seeing that he had returned back to the foggy place inside the 'Stone of Time', Shun Long felt a sense of relief, but at the same time dissatisfaction deep in his heart.

He felt a sense of relief because he had returned back to this place while he had also managed to breakthrough to the peak of the third stage in the 'Monarch's Eternal body', but he also felt dissatisfaction because he couldn't control these outbursts when the 'Stone of Time' would suddenly rotate.

This was already the second time that this had happened.

The first time, Shun Long had appeared outside of a red palace, while the 'Stone of Time' seemed to have reacted to what was inside there.

A purple light had then burst from that palace, shooting high up in the sky, before booming thunderclouds had gathered in the air.

This time however, there seemed to be nothing that reacted to the 'Stone of Time'.

There was only the white palace, the 2 statues with silver wings and silver armor, the red patch of soil behind Shun Long... and of course the stairs of golden steps.

If Shun Long hadn't actually refined the rank 2 'internal destruction pill' in the past, and hadn't reached the middle of the third stage in the 'Monarch's Eternal body' by now, would he have managed to stay alive under that horrifying pressure?

After thinking about it for a while he then mumbled to himself

''The second golden step seemed to have been much more terrifying than the first. Does that mean that every successive step would be harder to climb than the last one?''

Shun Long's eyes lit up as this thought flashed through his mind, when suddenly, the foggy place inside the 'Stone of Time' started to rumble.

Shun Long and Little Black both looked around them, as a small part of the white mist that surrounded this space, was now swirling in a spiral pattern.

A small part of the mist started to recede even deeper inside the foggy space, while Shun Long stared at it with shock in his eyes.

In the past, Shun Long had tried to pass through the white fog, but upon contact with it he realized, that it was practically impossible to force his way through. No matter what he did, whether he used the 'Thunderbolt finger' or attacked with the 'Staff of Obliteration', or even when he had simply infused his qi inside it, the white fog wouldn't budge even a single inch.

And yet, something entirely new appeared in Shun Long's eyes.

A golden stele less than 1m(3.2ft) tall had appeared on the ground in front of him, as it radiated a dim white light.

Shun Long's eyes widened when he saw the white palace with 2 guards that were engraved on the golden stele.

This was clearly the same palace that he had just been to a few minutes ago. ...

Little Black watched Shun Long's shocked expression, before his eyes shifted towards the golden stele as well, but only a look of confusion appeared in his eyes.

It was obvious that Little Black didn't recognize the white palace engraved on the golden stele.

Seeing Shun Long taking a few steps forward, walking towards the golden stele, Little Black had a serious look in his eyes as he appeared behind Shun Long in an instant.

The black dragon didn't stop Shun Long from examining the golden stele, but had instead taken all precautions in case they faced any danger.

After all, Shun Long couldn't leave something inside the 'Stone of Time' without knowing what it is.

Walking in front of the golden stele, Shun Long placed his hand on top of it.

Although the stele itself looked ancient, it had a very smooth feeling on his hand.

Shun Long had a serious look in his eyes, as his finger traced the drawing of the white palace on the stele.

Seeing that nothing had happened, Shun Long activated the 'Monarch's Hourglass', gathering his qi in his finger.

The moment that Shun Long's finger that was infused with his qi came in contact with the golden stele, the stele emitted a humming sound, before it fell completely silent.

The dim white light was still surrounding the stele however, but no matter how Shun Long tried to probe the stele, he was unable to get another reaction.

Turning his head around, Shun Long then saw Little Black who was behind him, as he stared at him curiously, before Shun Long explained everything that he had just been through.

Suddenly, Shun Long also remembered the mysterious symbols on top of the white palace, and using his qi to create a small flame on his finger, he replicated the symbols as he showed them to Little Black.

To his disappointment however, Shun Long saw Little Black staring at the symbols for a while, before he shook his head and said

''Master, I have never encountered such symbols before. At least this isn't a language that I know of...''

Although Shun Long felt some disappointment, he didn't find it too unexpected.

After all, the 'Stone of Time's' origins were something that neither Little Black nor anyone else knew of.

Shun Long could take his time in the future, to search for more things about the white palace in the golden stele, as well as that mysterious red palace that he had appeared outside of, the last time.

With these thoughts in mind, Shun Long's mind finally relaxed.

After all, the truth was, that he had certainly benefitted today from his 'trip' to the white palace.

Seeing the black dragon who was staring at him with a disappointed expression, Shun Long patted Little Black's head as he said

''It's okay. We can find more clues about these things together in the future.

For now, it is time for me to break through to the Spirit realm!''

----------