The Great Ruler

The current of death-gas carrying the countless grayish-white figures from the forest brushed past and went roaring into the distance. Without any spiritual intelligence, they were totally unable to even wonder why their targets had suddenly vanished without a trace.

Somewhere behind the chaos, Han Shan and the rest watched the massive herd of beast spirits move further away, and their tense bodies immediately relaxed. The masters of the Demonic Rhino Clan sat down abruptly with pale faces, as their legs couldn’t hold them upright anymore.

When the current had rushed towards them, they had thought they would be killed on the spot.

Han Shan swallowed harshly, his face wild with joy after escaping death. He turned towards Mu Chen and said gratefully, “Brother Mu, thank you so much.” If not for Mu Chen, they would have been pursued and murdered.

Mu Chen smiled while shaking his head, saying, “I just wanted to try it out. I didn’t think it would actually work.”

Knowing Mu Chen quite well by now, Han Shan didn’t take his words seriously. He knew Mu Chen would not have taken such a risk if he hadn’t been certain to some degree. Regardless, they had survived their near-death experience.

“With this tactic, shouldn’t we be able to invade this cemetery of many beasts at will?” Ink Blade asked, shocked.

Mu Chen shook his head and said, “The beast spirits we just encountered weren’t strong, so we could easily fool their senses, but if we met a stronger beast spirit, this tactic would not be effective.”

He had thought of this problem beforehand, and when the massive herd of beast spirits rushed past, he clearly detected the slight hesitation of some of the Grade Seven beast spirits that had sensed their presence. However, due to the massive herd behind them charging forward, they just dismissed the thought and flowed along with the herd. This showed that the stronger the beast spirit was, the more sensitive its senses were, so to think that they could always rely on the spiritual array to mask themselves would be overly optimistic.

Once all the beast spirits of the area had moved away, Mu Chen tapped his finger lightly, and the spiritual array surrounding them rapidly dissipated. He then lifted his gaze towards the distant treetop. There, the leaders Golden Break, Huo Yang, and the rest had dark looks on their faces and were glaring at Mu Chen murderously.

“It seems I’ve disappointed you…” Mu Chen looked at the dark expressions of Golden Break and the rest with a bright smile on his youthful and handsome face.

“Hehe, I didn’t know a Spiritual Array Master was among you. That was a surprise.” Golden Break smiled grimly while glaring at Mu Chen.

Han Shan’s gaze was just as malicious. He stared at Golden Break and the rest, and grinned evilly. “I’m afraid that is not the only surprise. It seems this time you won’t be able to monopolize the treasure of the Treasure Beast.”

“Is that so?” Golden Break lifted his gaze, and his smile had a mocking edge to it. “Han Shan, do you really think that just by clearing this hurdle you can challenge me? Even without the help of the beast spirits, just the few of you cannot possibly turn the tide in your favor.”

The alliance between the Golden Lion Clan and the Sirius Clan included around ten Grade Seven Sovereigns, while Mu Chen and the rest had at most only five. In a battle, the clans clearly had the advantage of numbers.

“Well, you could try it out,” Han Shan responded in kind, not relenting in the least. While they were outnumbered, they had the advantage in terms of quality. Nine Nether and Ink Blade were masters equal to him in skill, and were considered the creme de la creme among the Grade Seven Sovereigns. They were far beyond what ordinary Grade Seven Sovereigns could handle.

Besides, they also had Mu Chen, whose power could not be measured using the normal standards. Even Han Shan would be afraid to face this man who had almost killed Lu Sui with a single blow.

According to his calculations, Mu Chen, despite being a Grade Six Sovereign, could probably take four or five Grade Seven Sovereigns at once without being at a disadvantage.

Golden Break glared at Han Shan coldly, but in the next moment he smiled grimly. “I had long ago heard of the name Han Shan of the Demonic Rhino Clan. It seems today I will finally have the opportunity to experience his power.” He staked his claim on Han Shan as his opponent, clearly wanting to stop the latter personally.

“Nine Nether of the Nine Netherbird Clan is mine,” Huo Yang of the Sirius Clan said, his ferocious gaze locked on Nine Nether. In their opinion, the only worthy opponents on Han Shan’s side were Han Shan, Nine Nether, and Ink Blade. The rest were just minor figures. As for the fellow who had arranged the spiritual array, he was merely a Grade Six Sovereign, so killing him would be easy.

Golden Break inclined his head towards a blonde man behind him and said mildly, “As for the other one, Vajra take someone with you and deal with him.” The man he was referring to was clearly Ink Blade.

The man behind Golden Break was as sturdy as a metal tower, and golden rays emanated from his skin. He had made a name for himself in the Golden Lion Clan, though he was still not as powerful as the golden duo. Together with another Grade Seven Sovereign, it would be easy to keep Ink Blade occupied, even if they couldn’t beat him.

“Okay!” Vajra grinned, revealing a row of white teeth as he fixed his razor-like gaze on Ink Blade.

Faced with his wolf-like gaze, Ink Blade’s expression still remained placid and unaffected.

“Then send another five people to deal with the rest of them,” Golden Break said coldly. Apart from Han Shan, Nine Nether, and Ink Blade, the opposing side only had three ordinary Grade Seven Sovereigns. Five men would be enough to deal with them quickly.

Golden Break allocated all of his people with just these few sentences, and looking at it from the surface, this manner of allocation should have been sufficient to defeat Han Shan’s party completely.

To Golden Break, the outcome seemed clear.

Golden Break stood with his hands behind his back, his mocking gaze trained towards Han Shan, Nine Nether, and the rest as he said, “If I were you, I would have retreated just now. Despite managing to evade the attacks of the beast spirits, you’re still just futilely throwing away your lives.”

Beside Golden Break, Huo Yang smiled mockingly and looked pityingly at Han Shan and the rest. Did they truly think it was a joke when he said he liked cooperating with the party with the higher success rate?

The Golden Lion Clan had made thorough preparations this time. They were not something Han Shan could handle.

The minute he finished the allocation, Golden Break transformed into a golden ray with a shake of his body and appeared before Han Shan. His mighty spiritual energy roared, and his murderous gaze, which was like the gaze of a vicious lion, fixed on Han Shan.

“I hope you won’t disappoint me too much,” Golden Break said mildly.

Wearing a ferocious expression, Han Shan just laughed nastily without saying a word. His mighty spiritual energy suddenly exploded outwards like a volcanic eruption. Behind him, his spiritual energy transformed into the shadow of an ancient demonic rhino, and its viciousness filled the sky.

Just as Golden Break and Han Shan confronted each other, Huo Yang also appeared before Nine Nether. Nine Nether’s beautiful eyes scanned him coldly, and without wasting her breath on nonsense, purple fire rose on her jade-like hands.

Whoosh!

Vajra led another Grade Seven Sovereign to appear, flanking Ink Blade. He broke into a wide grin, which made him look simple, but his gaze was incredibly vicious. “You just stay right there.”

At the same time, in the other direction, five Grade Seven Sovereigns assembled in fan formation and shot furiously towards Mu Chen, Ink Blade, and the rest, landing in front of them. Their gazes were full of ridicule.

In their opinion, only the three Grade Seven Sovereigns of the Demonic Rhino Clan were worthy of notice. As for Mu Chen and Ink Ring, their Grade Six Sovereign skills were not worthy of notice at all. Realizing this, the three Grade Seven Sovereigns of the Demonic Rhino Clan immediately stepped forward, and their gazes turned fierce.

“Brother Mu, we will handle three of the opposing Grade Seven Sovereigns, the rest we leave to you,” a Demonic Rhino Clan master said courteously while looking at Mu Chen. Upon witnessing Mu Chen’s battle prowess, he knew very well that any ordinary Grade Seven Sovereigns facing the latter would be bringing about their own doom.

Mu Chen didn’t reply. He wasn’t looking at the five Grade Seven Sovereigns in front of him, but rather was gazing obscurely in the distance where three men of the Golden Lion Clan and the Sirius Clan were left behind after Golden Break, Huo Yang, and the rest went to battle.

However, the spiritual energy surrounding these three was not strong. They were clearly merely Grade Six Sovereigns, which was probably why Golden Break did not send them to battle.

Mu Chen’s sharp gaze brushed past the three, and then he immediately retracted his gaze, his eyes glittering. He waved his hand at the three Grade Seven Sovereigns of the Demonic Rhino Clan and said, “Back away, I will deal with all of them.”

Gasp!

When he said those words, not only were the five opposing Grade Seven Sovereigns stunned, but even Ink Ring and the three masters of the Demonic Rhino Clan were startled. They stared at Mu Chen in shock.

He wanted to face the five Grade Seven Sovereigns alone? Even a peak master of Grade Seven Sovereigns would find that hard.

“Tsk, this reckless punk.” At the other side, Golden Break jeered, then waved his hand expressionlessly and said, “Kill him.” In his opinion, Mu Chen’s behavior was clearly just to please the crowds and was exceedingly idiotic.

The five Grade Seven Sovereigns looked at Mu Chen first in wonder, then with pity. Had this fellow been driven mad by the impossible situation before him? It’d be sad if that were so.

Han Shan, Nine Nether, and Ink Blade looked at each other in dismay. While they knew Mu Chen’s battle prowess was extraordinary, it would still be difficult for him to take on five Grade Seven Sovereigns. Although they had their doubts, they trusted Mu Chen, so Han Shan gave the three Demonic Rhino Clan masters a nod.

They could only back away with a weird expression on their faces. However, if the situation got out of hand, they could just step in, since with Mu Chen’s skills, he wouldn’t lose too badly.

The five Grade Seven Sovereigns crossed their arms, not in a hurry to make a move. They just stared at Mu Chen with ridicule in their gazes, as if they were staring at an animal in the zoo.

Ignoring their stares, Mu Chen merely stood still with both eyes closed.

At the other end, Golden Break furrowed his eyebrows when he saw Mu Chen’s behavior, sensing vaguely that something was amiss. It suddenly dawned on him, and his expression changed drastically as he said sternly, “Stop him, he is arranging a spiritual array!”

The five Grade Seven Sovereigns who had originally been staring at Mu Chen with amused looks heard this, and their expressions changed drastically as well. Spiritual energy surged within their bodies, ready to burst forth.

Just then, Mu Chen opened his eyes slowly and with a mocking curl of his lips, looked towards the five Grade Seven Sovereigns who were rushing towards him.

“What a bunch of idiots…”

Suddenly, thousands of flashes of spiritual seals flew out from between Mu Chen’s fingers and rapidly blended into the air.

Boom boom!

The earth suddenly shook, and the all-encompassing spiritual energy exploded outwards like a storm. With a light tap of his fingers, a soft command slowly rang out from Mu Chen’s mouth, “Heavenly Grade Spiritual Array, God’s Punishment Array!”