The Great Ruler

Standing before the greyish-white forest, the leader from the Sirius Clan stared at Mu Chen and the rest. His eyes were bloodshot, the razor-sharp radiance coming out from them seeming to pierce through them.

“Hehe, you don’t have to worry, Huo Yang. These are my friends from the Nine Netherbird Clan, as well as my partners,” Han Shan explained with a smile.

“Partners?”

The leader, Huo Yang, slightly frowned. He then sneered. “Han Shan, do you think that the treasures here are endless? I do not agree to one more group of people sharing our profits.”

Han Shan said, “Huo Yang, rest assured that, since I’ve invited them of my own accord, I will share my portion of the rewards with them. Your share remains yours entirely.”

Huo Yang slightly softened his expression when he heard this. But, he continued to stare hard at Mu Chen. He drew his lips, a despising look flashing in his eyes.

Apparently, he had sensed that only Nine Nether and Ink Blade were Grade Seven Sovereigns in the group. The rest of them were only Grade Six Sovereigns.

How dare they come here at such low grades? They are so stupid to be blinded by their greed!

Huo Yang did not hide his feelings, so they could sense his contempt for the group. But they stood still and did not allow themselves to feel angry about it. Also, none of them wanted to bond with him anyway!

Mu Chen swept his eyes across the people from the Sirius Clan. Four out of the five were Grade Seven Sovereigns. Their line-up was also comparable to the Demonic Rhino Clan’s. Apparently, the Sirius Clan spent quite a great amount of effort on the treasure beasts this time.

After all, the difficulty increased for every additional man in the Land of Divine Beasts. Hence, the Nine Netherbird Clan had sent only four members. But, in the long run, it really was not about the numbers, but rather the quality of men. This was also the reason why the clans refused to send in anyone who was not up for it.

However, other than their leader Huo Yang, the rest of the four Grade Seven Sovereigns did not surprise Mu Chen. He surveyed the rest of them. He could sense that, out of the four Grade Seven Sovereigns, three of them were around the same level as Lu Sui from the Lightning Crow Clan. If Mu Chen had not already reached the second level of his Dragon-Phoenix Body, it would have been bothersome to try to settle them. But now, it was a piece of cake!

“Huo Yang, what’s the situation now?” Han Shan asked smilingly.

Huo Yang curled his lips and said, “The Golden Lion Clan reached here half a day ago. But, they did not dare enter any deeper. Also, the number of beast spirits seems to be increasing. Previously, someone from the Golden Lion Clan sent us a letter, saying that the number of Grade Seven Sovereign beast spirits seems to have hit a total of 15 in the area where the treasure beasts perished.”

Han Shan’s expression turned solemn, as he knew that none of them could deal with 15 Grade Seven Sovereign beast spirits alone.

“They meant to join hands with us to kill the beast spirits first, then decide about the profits sharing after we reached the land of treasure,” Huo Yang explained, while casting a look at Han Shan. “Should we join hands?”

Han Shan was unsure about it. “Let’s go in and have a look first.”

He proceeded to lead the group deep into the forest at a rapid speed. Huo Yang watched their backs with flickering eyes, then signaled his men to follow closely behind.

Thick death-gas lingered around the forest, which was full of greyish-white trees. The deeper they went into the forest, Mu Chen could sense the death-gas getting denser. The amount of death-gas could almost stop any blood from circulating at all!

The forest was quite huge. The group journeyed for more than a dozen minutes before they slowed down. The forest turned sparse as they moved forward, and a steep, sloppy hillside appeared before them. Mu Chen and the rest stood on a huge greyish rock, looking at the large basin below the hill.

The trees were a dull black color and had been severely contaminated by the death-gas. Beasts, filled with death-gas, roared continuously in the region. Vague silhouettes were floating around, too.

“This is the land where most of the treasure beasts perished,” said Han Shan in a serious tone, while pointing at the huge basin below.

Mu Chen narrowed his eyes. Daunting death-gas clouds loomed over the basin. No living things could be found in this entire land.

Such a scene often meant extreme danger in the Land of Divine Beasts. Ordinary people would definitely avoid this place at all costs. If someone had not stumbled here by chance, those top powers from the Demonic Rhino Clan, the Sirius Clan, and the Golden Lion Clan would not have discovered the land where most treasure beasts perished at all.

As they were observing the region, golden lights flickered from afar. Subsequently, the roaring of the wind got louder. Han Shan stayed on his guard vigilantly.

The golden lights stopped not far from them. When the lights finally showed them fully, their sturdy builds brought an immediate strong oppression that filled the entire space.

Mu Chen swept his gaze across the scene, noticing that there were six of them, each with a big and bulky body. They had golden hair and golden runes were running along their faces, exuding a domineering oppression. Apparently, these were the top powers from the Golden Lion Clan.

Ever since they showed up, the top powers from the Demonic Rhino Clan had put their guards up, everyone remaining uptight and alert. They now circulated their spiritual energy fluctuations around them, staring hard at the other party.

Han Shan remained calm. He looked at the well-built man, who was standing at the front of the Golden Lion Clan. His body was shaped like an iron tower. Golden rays were hidden beneath his skin, and a domineering spiritual energy oppression kept exuding from his body.

“Golden Break, you’re the leader for the group again.” Han Shan stared at the well-built man, speaking slowly.

At this point in time, Nine Nether also lowered her voice to say to Mu Chen, “There are two creams of the crop among the younger batch of the Golden Lion Clan. The pair is commonly known as the ‘Golden Duo.’ Golden Break is one of them. But, it looks like the other one is not here.”

Mu Chen nodded gently. Golden Break did release a very domineering oppression. The common Grade Seven Sovereigns would not be his match. Moreover, he could also feel the mightiness coming from Golden Break’s body, almost as he had recently gone through some physical cultivation.

Golden Break laughed out loud, showing his sparkling white teeth. But, his smile seemed cold, as he swept an oppressing glance at Han Shan first, then stopped at Nine Nether, Ink Blade, and the rest.

“Han Shan, you don’t have much confidence in the Demonic Rhino Clan, do you? Splitting your profits with someone else?” Golden Break gave a mocking grin.

“We are here just to widen our horizons,” Nine Nether said calmly.

Golden Break smiled. “Barging into such a land? I’m not sure if you guys are too arrogant or too ignorant!”

“Try us, and then you’ll know if we’re arrogant or ignorant!” said Mu Chen.

“There’s no place for you, a Grade Six Sovereign, here!” Another Grade Seven Sovereign from the Golden Lion Clan exclaimed from behind Golden Break.

Golden Break gave a hand gesture to stop his clan members from continuing. He did not look at Mu Chen at all, as he did not think highly of any Grade Six Sovereign.

“Han Shan, we’re not here to argue. According to our previous scouts, a dozen Grade Seven Sovereign beast spirits have already appeared within this region. With such a vast amount of beast spirits, none of us could get through this land alone.” Golden Break looked at Han Shan. “This has been confirmed by those from the Sirius Clan. If you don’t believe me, you can go look for yourself.”

The top powers from the Sirius Clan, having just recently arrived, nodded their heads. Han Shan turned to face the region that was filled with death-gas, his brows knit. Even without scouting it himself, he could also sense the presence of formidable beast spirits.

“Brother Mu, what do you think?” Han Shan stayed quiet for a bit, then looked at Mu Chen and asked.

Golden Break and Huo Yang were a little stunned to see Han Shan seeking advice from a mere Grade Six Sovereign, especially instead of Nine Nether! They looked doubtfully at Mu Chen, unable to understand why Han Shan was so polite to Mu Chen.

Mu Chen and Nine Nether exchanged a look, then both nodded in agreement to Han Shan. Han Shan immediately nodded his head to Golden Break, too. “Alright, let’s join hands to agree to get rid of those beast spirits! As for the treasure beasts, we will split the rewards after we make it through alive!”

Golden Break gave an affirmative gesture, then the three groups divided the zones and the number of beast spirits to tackle.

“Since we’re all ready, let’s get going.”

Without any hesitation, Golden Break gathered his men and darted out.

“Let’s go, too. We will meet again, once the area is cleared.”

Huo Yang also moved out with his men.

“We should also leave.”

Upon seeing all of the groups’ departures, Han Shan also darted out, heading towards the huge and dark basin below. Mu Chen was at the back of the group. He squinted his pitch-black eyes in the direction where the Golden Lion Clan and the Sirius Clan had disappeared. With his hands at his back, he gave a gesture quietly to Nine Nether and the rest.

Be careful…

Nine Nether and Ink Blade looked at each other, radiance surging across their eyes. They then nodded.

The battle in this treasure beasts hunt would not be as easy as they thought…