The Great Ruler

Even after the princes’ meeting ended, the atmosphere in Daluotian remained highly charged. Part of the reason for this intensity was due to the appointing of the new princes, but the most important factor was the appearance of the Ancient Celestial Palace Relic.

Almost everyone knew how mighty the Ancient Celestial Palace was. No other forces had ever reached its status or strength, even throughout the current Tianluo Continent!

Hence, wherever the relic was concerned, everyone was interested. In fact, if one had enough luck within this ancient relic, he could leap to greater heights and rise with the wind. From then onwards, he would shine.

Therefore, the battle in this Ancient Celestial Palace Relic was the most exciting and competitive battle that the Tianluo Continent had witnessed in a thousand years! Any forces, even those with the least strength, would not want to miss it. After all, the attractiveness of the Ancient Celestial Palace was too overwhelming.

While all of the people in the Daluo Territory were discussing the Ancient Celestial Palace, Nine Nether Palace was also engaged in spectating. Ever since Mu Chen and Nine Nether had been crowned with prince status, Nine Nether Palace had suddenly become the strongest among the forces in the Daluo Territory. After all, there had never been a force having two princes at the same time.

So when the meeting ended, Nine Nether Palace soared in both status and popularity. All of the top powers from various teams came to visit, with the intention to forge alliances and seek refuge. They also figured that, i they could get the support of the two new princes, they could save themselves a lot of trouble in the future.

However, this also made Mu Chen and Nine Nether vexed, as they soon grew exhausted by these endless visits. After all, they were not good at socializing to begin with.

Eventually, they convinced their majordomo, Tang Bing, to handle the situation, while the pair announced themselves as being in a closed-door meditation. This clever ploy finally provided them some peace.

Nine Nether Palace, in the backyard.

The stone pavilion and the running stream created an elegant and peaceful environment within the secluded backyard. Nine Nether sat on the rocks alongside the stream.

Her body was curvaceous and slender, the sexy outline of which was hidden underneath her clothes. Her eyes were closed and her spiritual energy circulated gracefully around her.

There seemed to be a transparent flame burning around her. Although there was no high temperature being exuded, the flame continuously twisted and had a daunting oppression.

After quietly meditating for quite some time, she opened her pretty eyes and stretched her back lazily. As she extended her body, her overwhelmingly curvy lines only grew more alluring. This attracted a stare from the direction of the stone pavilion.

Somehow sensing the stare, which turned out to be coming from the eyes of Mu Chen, Nine Nether threw a death stare back at him at once. Mu Chen cleared his dry throat and acted like nothing had happened. He then quickly turned towards the scroll on the Spiritual Array in his hand.

“The crowd outside of Nine Nether Palace is making a lot of noise, whereas the both of you are hiding here in the peace and quiet!” Suddenly a playful voice, belonging to Mandela, was heard in the pavilion.

As a space rippled above the stream, Mandela appeared in her black dress and bare feet. A faint smile spread across on her small delicate face.

“My respects to the Dominator,” Nine Nether said, immediately standing up.

Mu Chen put down his scroll and said, “The preparation for the alliance of the North Territory… Has it been completed? If not, how would you have time to drop by here?”

“There isn’t much to prepare. Those fellows are not idiots! Given their individual strengths and knowing how tempting the Ancient Celestial Palace is, they knew they were not qualified to vie with other top-notch forces of the Tianluo Continent. So, they naturally would be even more concerned about the alliance,” Mandela said casually, while sitting on a stone.

She then soaked her feet in the cold stream water and asked her own question of Mu Chen. “How about you? Aren’t you the one who has been waiting for the appearance of the Ancient Celestial Palace? Now that it has finally revealed, how are you still keeping your cool?”

Mu Chen laughed. “I’m faking it. The appearance of it has stirred up quite a commotion. I wondered how many top-notch forces would be coming after it. My half-step Grade Nine Sovereign could barely be useful.”

As the news regarding the Ancient Celestial Palace spread, Mu Chen had initially been very excited. By now, he had calmed down. Although he had been waiting for this day ever since he obtained the Great Solar Undying Body, he knew how competitive it would be to fight for it. Under such circumstances, even Mandela, who was an Upper Earthly Sovereign, did not have absolute confidence of winning a victory, let alone a half-step Grade Nine Sovereign like himself.

Mandela smiled when she heard this, then said, “The evolution method of the Great Solar Undying Body is of no use to common people. Only those who have been practicing it can cultivate it successfully. Hence, most of the people would not fight with you.”

At this point, Mandela changed her tone. “Even though the competition is small, it means that its difficulty level is higher.”

Mu Chen nodded slightly. Those who were fighting for the evolution method must be those who had been practicing the Great Solar Undying Body for some time. It also meant that his opponents would have some extraordinary talents. Otherwise, they would not have been able to maintain the stringent conditioning required for cultivating the Great Solar Undying Body.

The difficulties in fighting with these elites would be far greater than any of the previous battles that Mu Chen had undertaken. But, he has no fear about it.

“Just how powerful was this Ancient Celestial Palace?” Mu Chen pondered aloud. He thought it was essential to have sufficient understanding of the strength of this old dominator, so that he could decide the best strategy for the relic.

“The Ancient Celestial Palace was divided into five halls and nine mansions. The one we met previously at the Big Hunting War was the Fourth Hall Master of the Ancient Celestial Palace. All five hall masters were Complete Earthly Sovereigns in their primes. The nine mansion masters, although they were weaker, were all Earthly Sovereigns, the Upper Earthly Sovereign being the highest ranking among them,” said Mandela slowly.

At this point, Mu Chen and Nine Nether could not control their expressions. That line-up was already terrifying!

“That isn’t even the scariest part! There are another three Heavenly Sovereigns in the Ancient Celestial Palace above these people!” Mandela wore a solemn expression.

Phew…

Mu Chen and Nine Nether drew in cold breaths. This piece of news was definitely unexpected.

Are there two more top powers in the Ancient Celestial Palace, apart from the Heaven Emperor himself?

Mandela seemed to know what they were both thinking and shook her head. “The other two Heavenly Sovereigns were also transformed from the Heaven Emperor.”

“Transformed from the Heaven Emperor?” Mu Chen repeated in surprise.

Both he and Nine Nether were a little stunned. Apparently, they could not understand what she meant by this.

Mandela looked at the stunned duo and asked, “Did you know that there were 36 volumes of Rare Super Powers, and that the Heaven Emperor was practicing one, which was known as the A Qi Into Trinity? He could actually split himself into three parts by creating another two clones! Each clone was independent, marvelous, and even possessed the power of a Heavenly Sovereign! As such, even though there was only one real Heaven Emperor, it was basically as good as having three Heavenly Sovereigns!”

“Wow…36 volumes of Rare Super Power…” Mu Chen swallowed his saliva with difficulty. The only Super Power that he knew of had three different levels, which were known as the Minor Super Power, Grand Super Power, and Supreme Super Power. The difference between the standards was as evident as night and a day.

This was the first time he had heard of the 36 volumes of Rare Super Power, however. But, when he thought of the Super Power Art known as Self-Sacrificing Demonic Fist, its power was already shocking to most people, despite its being an incomplete Grand Super Power Art. When he thought of the Rare Super Power that was two levels higher than that, Mu Chen could somehow understand its mightiness a bit better.

After all, even as an Upper Sovereign, Mandela had been tempted by the Grand Super Power, and she had never had her hands on the Supreme Super Power before. So,if this was the case, the 36 volumes of Rare Super Power could be the highest level that a Heavenly Sovereign might achieve. This lofty ideal might still be a bit too far out of Mu Chen’s reach currently.

“The Ancient Celestial Palace, which rules the entire Tianluo Continent, is understandably a treasure land for countless people. Hence, if you were to enter it, you must find its two treasure spots,” Mandela said, while looking at Mu Chen.

“Which two?” Mu Chen was still a little stunned.

“The Super Power Hall and the Sky Pool,” Mandela said. “The Super Power Hall was the place where the super powers were stored in the palace. There were many different types, but all of them were strong super powers. You can explore and see if you can find the evolution method of the Great Solar Undying Body there, too.”

“As for the Sky Pool, it is even more important. This is because it is the treasure spot coveted by countless top powers in the Ancient Celestial Palace. The Sky Pool possesses a strong deity power that could further secure one’s spiritual foundation, allowing an upgrade to make a breakthrough and increase the success rate of overcoming any spiritual calamity. Back in ancient times, only those who had contributed the most to their society would be able to access to the Sky Pool in the Ancient Celestial Palace.”

At first, Mu Chen and Nine Nether were rather calm as they listened. But, as Mandela continued talking, they both could not help but reveal the passion burning in their eyes.

As everyone knew, only those who had reached the level of Earthly Sovereign would then be known as one of the rulers in the Great Thousand World. Any level below that, including Grade Nine Sovereign, was simply incomparable.

Although becoming an Earthly Sovereign made one quite powerful, less than 10 out of 100 Grade Nine Sovereigns would ever make it. The main reason for such a low number was because of the strong Earthly Sovereign Shackle. Before they could break through the shackle, they would need to go through the daunting Spiritual Calamity, which might cause them to become paralyzed, or worse yet, to die.

Such a low success rate was the barrier to most of the Grade Nine Sovereign top powers who had reached their peaks. They did not dare attempt to make a breakthrough to the Earthly Sovereign, as if they did not make it through their Spiritual Calamity, they would be ruined completely. Both Mu Chen and Nine Nether knew a little about this process, as neither were far from it now.

“Of course, apart from this, you still have to beware of Garuda. He might be the strongest opponent in your Ancient Celestial Palace trip this time.” Mandela squinted her eyes slightly and spoke slowly.

“Strongest opponent?” Mu Chen was confused. He then realized what she was saying, his eyes narrowing immediately.

If Mandela had made it a point to mention this person to him formally, this Garuda must have practiced the Great Solar Undying Body too!