The Great Ruler

The hall fell into a dead silence after Liu Tiandao made that impolite remark. Nine Nether and the rest glared at him in a fit of pique. If it were not for Liu Tiandao’s status, they would have stood up and defended Mu Chen.

However, compared to their righteous indignation, Mu Chen kept his cool. Clearly, he was not surprised by Liu Tiandao’s objection. After all, they had grudges against one another in the past. Naturally, Liu Tiandao’s unjust mentality could be his source of agitation.

The other four Earthly Sovereigns shared the same thoughts as Liu Tiandao, despite keeping quiet. They just kept silent to avoid taking the lead. No matter what, all five of them refused to acknowledge Mu Chen, as he was not good enough to rise above them.

Hence, even with Mandela’s support, Mu Chen had to rely on his own capability to convince the five Sovereigns if he wished to secure the position. Otherwise, the foundation of the new force would not be strong, and it would be hard to establish themselves in the future.

Knowing this very well, Mandela did not say anything after she heard Liu Tiandao. Obviously, she wanted Mu Chen to resolve this himself. Seeing her attitude, the rest of the Lower Earthly Sovereigns understood her unspoken intention and cast away all their initial fears.

Mu Chen smiled at their provocative looks. He looked at Liu Tiandao. In a calming tone he said, “Since Elder Liu does not think that I’m qualified, may I know what kind of qualification are you looking for?”

Liu Tiandao raised his eyebrow. “If you wish to rise above others, you need to convince the others. Instead of using your mouth, you need capabilities and skills to do so,” said Liu Tiandao at a moderate speed.

“Although you’ve broken through to Lower Earthly Sovereign, you’re still inexperienced. Your foundation is weak. If you rise above us and become our leader with such qualifications, our followers would feel unjust for us, and they might rebel.” Liu Tiandao was apparently a sly old fox. His understated tonality drew the line, and he even shifted the problem to their followers.

Mu Chen smiled and nodded. He looked at the rest of the Earthly Sovereigns and asked, “I guess, the rest of you share the same opinion?”

All four of them smiled and said slowly, “Even though Young Brother Mu has made a name for himself, you’re still inexperienced. That’s a fact. It’s hard to convince us.”

Although they could not recognize Mu Chen as their leader, they did not want to offend him, either. After all, it was rare for such a young man to become a Lower Earthly Sovereign. He must have remarkable potential, and he might surpass them in the future. Therefore, even those Sovereigns who were used to dictating to others were polite to him.

Mu Chen gave a hollow laugh. “I guess, the so-called ‘qualification and experience’ come from the fist. The one with a bigger and more durable fist wins.” He put it bluntly compared to those old fellows who were beating around the bush. They did not object. Instead, they were glad that Mu Chen understood their hidden intentions.

Mu Chen pressed hard on the tabletop and laughed. A sharp radiance gathered immediately in his pitch-black eyes. He said slowly, “If this is the case, I wonder who is willing to come forward and have a taste of my fist?”

As Mu Chen finished his sentence, a strong wind suddenly gathered in the hall, and violent spiritual energy suppression swept out like a windstorm from his body. The surrounding space twisted and rippled like a water current.

The rest of the people, including Nine Nether, the Sleeping King, and the Condor King, who were standing behind him, had a slight change in their expressions. They felt their bodies being suppressed by a mountain-like force, and none of them could move. They sang out praises in their hearts. The difference between the Grade Nine Sovereign and the Earthly Sovereign was incredibly vast.

The daunting spiritual oppression swept out, and all five Earthly Sovereigns narrowed their eyes. Their sleeves flapped and rustled, even without any natural wind. A spiritual glow flashed around them, blocking off the spiritual oppression coming from Mu Chen.

“Hehe, Young Brother Mu, you’ve got quite a dashing spirit.” Liu Tiandao smiled. He swung his sleeves and said, “Since you’ve made up your mind, I would like to give it a try.”

He knew Mu Chen was not a simple person, but he was confident of himself, too. After all, he had become a Lower Earthly Sovereign many years ago, while it had barely been a few months for Mu Chen. As such, he was confident that he could subdue Mu Chen’s dashing spirit.

Of course, the cautious Liu Tiandao did not mean to totally trash Mu Chen. All he wanted was to deflate his arrogance and prove to him that he could not command all of them just with his current capability.

“How do you want to do this? I’m totally fine, even if it’s a face-to-face confrontation,” said Liu Tiandao in an imposing manner. He seemed to look forward to the fight with Mu Chen. By doing so, not only would Mu Chen suffer a setback, but his own status in the North Territory Alliance would also rise further.

Looking at the eager Liu Tiandao, who had a spiritual glow flickering out from his eyes, Mu Chen gently snapped his slender fingers and laughed. “That kind of battle is practical, but it’s not exciting enough.”

Both of them were Lower Earthly Sovereigns, and they would need to give their all just to have a winner. Mu Chen obviously did not want this. After all, he did not wish to hurt his subordinate if he really became the commander of the new force. Moreover, top powers at Liu Tiandao’s level were not any simple Tom, Dick, or Harry who were easy to deal with.

However, Liu Tiandao thought Mu Chen was not confident enough with that statement. Without any emotion he said, “I’ll accept any kind of challenge.”

Mu Chen smiled, and he opened up his palm. Spiritual light gathered at the center of it. “Since Elder Liu is so confident, I’ll set up an array. So long as Elder Liu can persist in it for two hours, I’ll succumb to defeat and honor you as the commander,” said Mu Chen in a soft voice.

Wow.

Everyone in the hall gasped in disbelief. All of them stared at Mu Chen with an unbelievable look. They knew that Mu Chen was well-versed in Spiritual Arrays, but could his cultivation in Spiritual Arrays have reached the Ancestral Master rank? Even so, a Beginner Ancestral Master’s Spiritual Array could only trap Liu Tiandao, forget getting him to persist for two hours. That would be absurd.

Getting Liu Tiandao to persist for two hours would require an Intermediate Ancestral Master’s Spiritual Array. That standard would be a headache to an Upper Earthly Sovereign!

Isn’t this Mu Chen too cocky? “You really do not know your limits!” Liu Tiandao laughed in anger. Who would have thought that Mu Chen could be this arrogant? But he was secretly happy over Mu Chen’s last sentence, as the moment Mu Chen lost, he would also lose the chance to become the commander.

Mandela would have to abort her plan for promoting Mu Chen. Instead, Liu Tiandao could rise with this opportunity, and he could even cast his greedy eyes on the new commander’s position. After all, Mandela did not seem to be interested in it.

“Since Young Brother Mu is so full of himself, I’ll test the mightiness of your Spiritual Array today!” With his hands at his back, Liu Tiandao let out a cold sneer.

Mu Chen smiled and nodded. Without any words, his sleeves flew in the air, and countless Spiritual Seals dashed out from his sleeves like shooting stars. Those Spiritual Seals infused themselves into the air, and space immediately rippled out. Beams of Spiritual Light spread themselves and intertwined into vague but visible runes.

Within a short while, a huge primary formation formed in the air right within the hall. Violent spiritual energy swept out and gathered within the Spiritual Array.

Roar!

Roaring from dragons seemed to come from the Spiritual Array, exuding a bizarre sense of oppression. All five Lower Earthly Sovereigns squinted slightly as they looked at the enormous Spiritual Array formed in mid-air. They could not help but to sing praises in their hearts, as this type of spiritual array had clearly reached the true Ancestral Master level.

No wonder Mu Chen could be so cocky. They were surprised by such capabilities.

Roar!

Within the enormous Spiritual Array, spiritual energy surged like currents. They immediately formed three huge crouching dragons that exuded dominating oppression. Given Mu Chen’s current ability, the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array he formed was much more domineering than before.

“This Spiritual Array seems to be unusual.” Liu Tiandao lifted his head and took a look at the Spiritual Array. He smiled and set his foot in it. Then, he turned to Mu Chen and said, “But if this is all you can do, I can break this array without any effort.”

With one look, he could tell that this Spiritual Array looked unusual, but it was far from a threat to him. “Moreover, this array seems to have many flaws. This looks like an incomplete array to me. If you intend to let me succumb to defeat with this incomplete array, you might be too naïve,” said Liu Tiandao indifferently to Mu Chen.

Mu Chen smiled and nodded gently. Liu Tiandao had a pair of sharp eyes. He could tell that the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array before him was just an incomplete array.

“If that’s the case…” said Mu Chen with a mysterious smile as he formed a seal with one hand, “…then I shall invite Elder Liu to evaluate the complete form of the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array…”