The Great Ruler

Behind the Luo God Palace lies a tranquil and quiet mountain. Mu Chen sat cross-legged on one of the rocks on the peak of the mountain. He was looking elegant and unconventional, while his robes rustled when the breeze from the mountain gently blew.

His eyes were closed. With both of Mu Chen’s hands forming a seal, the spiritual energy between the Heaven and Earth swept in like streams of violent current. But, no matter how great the spiritual energy was, it seemed to be sucked in by a black hole once it touched Mu Chen’s body, without sending out a single ripple.

As Mu Chen entered the Earthly Sovereign, the spiritual energy from the Heaven and Earth that he could absorb in his body had reached an unbelievable level. Before the Earthly Sovereign, everyone could only rely on the Sovereign Sea to absorb the spiritual energy.

When one entered the Earthly Sovereign, the Sovereign Sea dissipated and merged into the blood and flesh of the body. Almost every inch of the flesh and every stream of the blood in the body then become a Sovereign Sea. Without any doubt, the absorption surpassed the previous Sovereign-level by multiple folds.

Mu Chen’s cultivation lasted for two hours before the aggressive activities dulled down. His eyes that were tightly closed opened slowly, while the spiritual glow that was surging in both of his eyes gradually dispersed.

Sensing the violent spiritual energy in his body, Mu Chen let out a breath gently. But, he looked rather stern as he thought of the information Luo Li told him previously.

“The Four Holy Children of the Western Kingdom War Temple…” Mu Chen mumbled to himself.

According to what Luo Li had said, the first three Holy Children had tremendous achievements by slaying the Upper Earthly Sovereigns. Hence, he could not underestimate them.

Mu Chen knew the vast difference between a slaughter and a defeat at the Upper Earthly Sovereign level. As the Earthly Sovereigns had extremely strong vitalities, they could recover themselves even if their bodies had been half blown-up!

To kill a real Upper Earthly Sovereign, one had to exterminate all of the vitality that was contained in the blood and flesh. This was just like how Mu Chen slaughtered that Lower Earthly Sovereign from the Blood God Clan.

But, it was not easy to achieve this. At this kind of level, the Upper Earthly Sovereigns could still try to escape if they were no match for it. Thus, they could only be slain, unless the difference in the strength of both parties was too vast.

If these three Holy Children could slaughter Upper Earthly Sovereigns, they must possess a strength that far surpassed an ordinary Upper Earthly Sovereign. As such, these three Holy Children would be his hindrance to this Child of the Continent Battle Trial.

Most importantly, the Western Kingdom War Emperor bore grudges against him. When the Flame Emperor was around, he did not dare to strike at him, but when the three Holy Children met him, Mu Chen was sure that they would take it out on him to avenge for the War Emperor. Hence, Mu Chen was afraid that there was no room for negotiations.

Compared to the three of them, the remaining Liu Xingchen, Sword Deity Lang Ya, and Ba Dao seemed to be slightly weaker, even though they had also defeated top powers of their same levels. However, these results were incomparable with the three Holy Children.

“The Western Kingdom Continent is really a place full of hidden dragons and crouching tigers.” Mu Chen let out a sigh.

Despite the fact that the Western Kingdom Continent was not a supercontinent, it was apparently much stronger than the Tianluo Continent due to the presence of the Western Kingdom War Emperor. This time, bloodshed was unavoidable, especially if Mu Chen wanted to become the Child of the Continent.

Knowing this, Mu Chen felt threatened. However, he was still determined. Since the Flame Emperor had gotten this opportunity for him, no matter what, he could not give up easily.

Phew.

Mu Chen breathed out deeply. His eyes were half-closed as he formed seals with both of his hands. The space around him seemed to vibrate instantly, and he could feel the two manifestations cultivating in the Heavenly River of Ancient Celestial Palace.

Mu Chen felt slightly at ease when he felt the intriguing connection with the manifestations. The three Holy Children might be mighty, but Mu Chen was not someone who was easy to deal with!

The Qi into Trinity was one of the trump cards that he could use to go up against the Upper Earth Sovereigns. Since he had mastered his cultivation in the Qi into Trinity, he had never used it before. But, he had an intuition that this power would not disappoint him once he used it.

Although Mu Chen had this type of Rare Super Power as one of his trump cards, he still would not let down his guard. To be safe, he needed even more trump cards to increase his chances of success.

More trump cards…

Mu Chen thought hard, his eyes slightly closed. After quite some time, he then opened his eyes. Hesitation flashed across them, as he thought of the cultivation technique that he had set aside a long time ago.

This was the Great Pagoda Art, which his mother had left him! The Great Pagoda Art was the basic cultivation technique of the Budur Ancient Clan.

Mu Chen did practice it for a period of time in the past. But, he was afraid his identity might be exposed, so he had set it aside temporarily.

As he entered the Earthly Sovereign, he had some ability to protect himself now. He thought that this would be the right time to start cultivating it again.

The Budur Ancient Clan was one of the most ancient clans in the Great Thousand World. Not only did they have a daunting foundation, but they were also the authentic overlords. As such, the Great Pagoda Art must be extraordinary too.

Without any hesitation, Mu Chen quickly formed the seal with both of his hands. With his eyes closed, the Great Pagoda Art ran through his heart. The powerful spiritual energy in his body started to circulate along the meridians via the course that was being paved by the Great Pagoda Art.

Weng Weng!

As Mu Chen circulated the Great Pagoda Art, the magnificent spiritual energy gushed through his body like sea currents. While the spiritual energy gathered, the black pagoda that he had not seen for a long time slowly surfaced in his heart. His soul and mind slowly synced with it.

Mu Chen’s intuition was right. As he entered the Earthly Sovereign, he could comprehend those obscure points in the Great Pagoda Art. He felt that all of the problems were resolved, while an intriguing experience unfolded before him.

He felt as though he had just unveiled some abstruse art and began to comprehend its most profound and hidden techniques. Mu Chen indulged in it completely.

Time passed quickly on the peak of the mountain where Mu Chen sat. Even after a few days went by, he remained there, sitting still like a stone.

Luo Li came and saw Mu Chen, who was indulging in his cultivation. She did not disturb him. Instead, she sat by his side quietly for quite some time, then left without a word.

Time flew again. Ten days went by in the blink of an eye.

On the tenth day, Mu Chen’s body was slightly shaken. Deep in his heart, the Great Pagoda Art that was running non-stop suddenly disintegrated. After which, an unfamiliar verse quietly surfaced in Mu Chen’s heart…

“Break and you shall stand. Follow the heart to draw the Ancestral Aura out. The Budur will then be real.” Mu Chen recited the verse softly in his heart. After a while, an epiphany surged in his heart.

“So, this is it?” Mu Chen murmured. With a thought, the black pagoda in his body suddenly collapsed. The body of the pagoda then burst open, while beams of lights darted out.

He had forcefully caused the pagoda to self-dest! The pagoda continued to break open until it finally burst completely apart. Immediately, a dark glow swept out. The glow shone every in corner of Mu Chen’s body.

Follow the heart… The words of the verse continued to run through Mu Chen’s mind as he relaxed his mind. The endless glow shone brightly, and he slowly lost consciousness.

As he entered something akin to a state of oblivion, the glow gathered again at the spot where the pagoda had just burst. It seemed to be forming a little vortex that was leading to an unknown place.

Mu Chen naturally hesitated when he saw the glowing vortex. But soon, he ditched that hesitation and, following the glow, he entered it!

The darkness in front of him only lasted for a while. Suddenly, Mu Chen could feel the twisting time and space. In that instant, his soul traveled an immeasurably far distance.

The darkness quickly disappeared, and when Mu Chen opened his blurry eyes, he could not help but feel an extreme sense of shock.

Where am I?

As his soul floated in midair, an extremely ancient land appeared before him. The land was mottled and filled with marks that could only have been left by eons of time having passed by and eroding away at it. However, what shocked Mu Chen was not the age of the land, but the gigantic ancient pagoda that stood quietly in the center of the land!

The pagoda was extremely old as well, and every single mark on its body was enchanting. The marks looked as if they had outlasted several lifetimes and would continue to last forever.

As Mu Chen’s soul looked at the ancient pagoda, the immense oppression he felt from it seemed to be stronger than the ones that came from any Heavenly Sovereigns.

Where am I exactly?

Mu Chen was somewhat shaken by what he saw before him. He did not know why a passage would appear and draw his soul here after he smashed the pagoda.

But, the moment Mu Chen’s soul entered the strange and ancient Heaven and Earth, a figure suddenly opened her eyes. She was sitting cross-legged quietly in one of the dark pagodas among the faraway Budur Ancient Clan.

At this time, tears started to gather in her eyes as she looked up into an empty space above her. Her eyes were filled with yearning.

“My dear child, Mu Chen, did you reach the level whereby you can enter the Ancestral Land?” she murmured.