The Great Ruler

“Is this where the Wind Mansion, which is one of the Nine Mansions, is located?” Nine Nether asked. She and Lin Jing were staring at the unremarkable rocky island before their eyes, a hint of surprise on their faces.

The Nine Mansions obviously held a very high status within the Ancient Celestial Palace, as their owners were second only to the five hall masters. As such, it was surprising that their mansions were so shabby!

“It was marked as such on the map.” Mu Chen shrugged his shoulders, then approached the island and flicked his finger, causing a spiritual energy force to shoot out.

But, when it was about to reach the rocky island, he saw the space ripple, as if there were a spiritual array barrier there, which deflected the beam of spiritual energy force directly! Mu Chen approached again, gently placing his palms on the spiritual array barrier and closing his eyes. As he did so, spiritual energy rippled out from where his palms were, spreading along the spiritual array barrier.

Mu Chen did this for a long time, then slowly opened his eyes. He smiled at Lin Jing and Nine Nether, then said, “This spiritual array is very difficult to deal with, but fortunately, after so many years, it has been weakened by many flaws. Otherwise, with our strength, there’s no way that we could break through it.”

As he spoke, he gently tapped at the spiritual array, causing a crevice to tear open.

“It’s convenient to have a Spiritual Array Master.” Lin Jing smiled, as she saw how easily Mu Chen had torn open the spiritual array.

“After y’all.” Mu Chen smiled, while gesturing forward with a wave of his hand.

Nine Nether and Lin Jing looked at each other, smiled, then stepped into the crevice, with Mu Chen following closely. The three were immediately aware that layers of mist had just dissipated in that space, revealing that a great change had taken place.

The originally unremarkable rocky island had actually turned into an impressively huge island! Above the rocky island, there were innumerable palaces and stone towers.

In the center of the island, a massive green palace stood. A storm was gathering around it, rumbling furiously! Even the space itself was showing a variety of distortions!

“This is the real Wind Mansion,” Mu Chen said, while he looked upon the magnificent rocky island.

He then let out a sigh of relief. It seemed that the map was accurate! Looking at each other, the three carefully moved closer to the island, until they were finally suspended in mid-air right above it!

As they looked down at the island, they saw that it was unlike any other place that they had seen before. There were no ruins on the island, and the ancient palaces were still magnificent, as if they had not changed at all in the past millennia.

However, the trio quickly detected some clues that indicated that something was off. For instance, they found many skeletons, which were clearly the Sovereigns of the Wind Mansion, and all of these skeletons had been positioned with their skulls looking up. Their deaths seemed to happen in an instant, which would explain the terrified looks that were seemingly frozen on their faces!

Mu Chen also looked up, seeing that the distant sky seemed to have a dark trace along its edges, as though it was becoming extremely faint. However, he could still vaguely feel that this was where the Extraterritorial Race had suddenly descended upon the Wind Mansion, annihilating everyone instantly!

“It is said that there once was an extremely powerful Demon Emperor, and that this emperor invaded the Tianluo Continent, which gained him a high status among the Extraterritorial Race. I am afraid that of all the Sovereigns of the Wind Mansion were wiped out by this monstrous Demon Emperor,” Lin Jing said softly.

Mu Chen nodded slightly. After all, the Ancient Celestial Palace was the Heavenly Emperor’s domain, and he himself was one of the most powerful people in The Great Thousand World.

Moreover, he was known as being one of the Nine Emperors. As such, he was a pillar of strength within The Great Thousand World. Hence, if one wanted to attack the Tianluo Continent, unless he sent a being that was at least equal to the Demon Emperor, it would obviously be impossible.

“After the war, the Heavenly Emperor disappeared and the Ancient Celestial Palace was destroyed. It seemed that the Extraterritorial Race had finally succeeded,” Nine Nether sighed and said.

“It seems that this Demon Emperor was no simple character!” Lin Jing’s delicate eyebrows were knit together. She then said, “I vaguely remember hearing my father mention before that the Demon Emperor was the highest of all the Demon Emperors. But fortunately, after that war was over, he disappeared with the Heavenly Emperor…”

After Lin Jing finished, she no longer mentioned this mysterious matter. Instead, her beautiful eyes surveyed the surroundings quietly.

She then said, “The Wind Mansion seems to have been swept clean. If the owner of the Wind Mansion has already fallen, it should not be difficult to obtain a Pledge. However, it is said that the evil energy of the Extraterritorial Race is extremely domineering and can invade people’s spiritual intelligences. Once the evil spirits invade, they can assimilate into evil entities, so we have to hope that the owner of the Wind Mansion has not been assimilated yet!”

“That would be very unlucky indeed!” Mu Chen pursed his lips, thinking that, even if the owner of the Wind Mansion was weak, he was still a Lower Earthly Sovereign. As such, even after thousands of years of erosion, his figure could not be underestimated, and once encountered, would surely be quite a headache!

“Go straight to the main hall, which should be in the main house here.” Mu Chen looked directly at the center of the island, where a deep azure hall that was surrounded by storms stood.

If the Pledge of the owner of the Wind Mansion was to be found, that was clearly the most probable place. Nine Nether and Lin Jing nodded, showing that they had no objections.

Mu Chen was the first to sweep out, but he moved in a strange way, sometimes fast and sometimes slow. This was because he could detect some disordered spiritual array waves that would trigger a spiritual array and cause unnecessary trouble, were he to breach them.

Such sporadic movements slowed the three, so it took them about ten minutes to reach the main hall. There, a strong storm was brewing…

“This is an Ancestral Master-level Spiritual Array.” Mu Chen stopped before the hall and looked up at it.

According to Mu Chen’s estimation, this stormy spiritual array was probably a true Ancestral Master-level Spiritual Array. Upon hearing this, Nine Nether and Lin Jing’s faces changed.

“Can you counter it?” Nine Nether asked Mu Chen, while also glancing toward Lin Jing. After all, this level of spiritual array was obviously impossible to break down with their strengths, so they could only rely on Mu Chen’s spiritual array attainments.

Mu Chen stared at the great array, pondered for a moment, then said, “Cracking it is impossible. Even though this large array has gone through thousands of years of wear and tear, it is still a true Ancestral Master-level Spiritual Array. However, we can try to deduce its change. If we can find a loophole, we should be able to get in. If we can’t, we’ll just give up. Now, help to stand guard.”

Mu Chen then sat down and flicked his fingers together. As he did so, spiritual seals began to surge out. When these spiritual seals approached the hall, they automatically melted into the space.

Nine Nether and Lin Jing saw this and retreated behind him, the latter waving her hand to summon the Ice Spiritual Doll, which formed a half circle, protecting Mu Chen within it. Under their guard, the speed of spiritual seals converging at Mu Chen’s fingertips quickened, constantly melting into the space.

His actions soon set off some traces of movement, and the storm around the hall, as if it had been stirred by something, rumbled and raged. A strong and unparalleled sense of oppression spread out, which contained amazing spiritual energy fluctuations.

This caused Nine Nether and Lin Jing’s expressions to grow solemn. If this spiritual array launched an attack on them, they would all be in big trouble!

Fortunately, the raging storm did not roll over them, and after a while, everything gradually calmed. At this time, they saw Mu Chen slowly open his eyes. His face was grave.

He then pointed his fingertips, and a trace of blood appeared out of thin air. It seemed to be surrounded by countless spiritual seals. Then, Lin Jing and Nine Nether’s eyes lit up, as outside the hall, there seemed to be an azure shade of light, which slowly caused a crack to open up!

“Go!” Mu Chen exclaimed. He then rushed into the crack, immediately followed by Nine Nether and Lin Jing.

As the three entered the crack, it gradually leveled out. Then, after a while, it eventually vanished.

However, shortly after the three entered the space, the path behind them suddenly fluctuated, as if a foot that was made of magma had stepped onto it!