The Great Ruler

The Skeleton Ridge lay on the southwest of the inner region of the Meteorfall Battlefield. On the heavily overlapping mountain ranges of this wide area, remains of countless white bones laid exposed.

These bones would eventually turn to dust, due to the corrosion of time. Since these skeletons belonged to some of the most powerful masters, the dust from the bones would be blown away by the wind, gradually dying this wide mountain range an eerie white. Looking at this place from afar, it almost seemed to be covered in a layer of snow.

One could feel the gloomily cold atmosphere surrounding the entire place. When the wind rose, the ashes would fill the whole sky, giving the place a sinister and gloomy aura.

In the past, traces of humans were rarely found in this Skeleton Ridge. While many masters had met their ends here, they did not leave behind valuable relics. As such, the forces rarely came through. However, today, the gloomy atmosphere of this deserted and remote area had been chased away by the bursts of fire, which had risen up towards the sky.

Whoosh! Whoosh!

An overwhelming whooshing sound rang out, as the warriors rolled out from all four corners of the earth in a constant stream, before finally landing neatly on the massive Skeleton Ridge. In the deep regions of the mountain range, there was a plain, which was tens of thousands of fathoms wide. Viewed from above, one would be surprised to find that the plain was actually a palm print.

This was clearly remains of the destruction, which had been wrought by a powerful master, when he crushed this piece of mountain range with the palm of his hand a long time ago. This area now contained forces from all sides, which had descended from the sky. These forces now stood in distinct clusters on this palm print land, scanning their surroundings with wary gazes.

The forces arrived consecutively, but did not mix with each other. After all, these forces, having managed to reach this inner domain, were all considered to be truly powerful.

They had probably clashed with one another at some point in the past, which would naturally explain the present complicated relationships and grudges that existed between them. When those forces, who were bearing especially bitter resentments towards each other, met at this place, they all exchanged murderous glances, as if they would like nothing better than to tear each other apart, limb by limb.

However, their murderous intentions could not be carried out, because everybody present knew that the real stars of this grand gathering of forces were the few top forces of the North Territory. While the rest of the forces all held predatory gazes, they were equally shrewd, knowing quite well the limits of their powers. So, they naturally would not try something as dumb as upstaging the main acts!

Just as the various forces appeared on the Skeleton Ridge, an earth-shaking noise of unrest rang out from deep within the mountain range. Directly after this, everybody saw a rainbow-coloured light. The light was so massive, it covered the sky and the earth! With a roar, it enveloped the sky above the wide plain with its majestic presence.

Everybody’s sights were focused on it. Immediately, some of them let out involuntary gasps. “That’s Netherworld Palace’s army!”

Along the horizon, looking like black rolling clouds, troops of warriors that were clad in black armor approached. They were enveloped in chilling fighting spirits. While the fighting spirits, which were rolling off in waves from their bodies, were not fully released yet, even a Sixth Grade Sovereign would feel a chill at the sight!

At the head of the majestic army of Netherworld Palace, several figures were standing in the air. At the forefront of the army, there was a middle-aged man, who was wearing heavy black armor. He had a thin face, but his gaze was so cold, it struck fear into the people’s hearts.

Behind him, stood the familiar figure of the Prince of Netherworld, along with a thin man, who was wearing a black gown. The corners of the man’s lips, which were as sharp as knives, curved up slightly, and a sharp, cold aura emanated from him.

This man was Lin Min, the infamous war troop dispatcher. The troops that were led by Lord Glacier had all been defeated by him!

Beside these three, there were many figures, all of whom were similarly cloaked in imposing fluctuations of spiritual energy. Those types of spiritual energy fluctuations belonged to a Sixth Grade Sovereign level! Clearly Netherworld Palace had deployed its entire army, as this imposing battle formation was enough to eliminate any of the first class forces of the North Territory.

In the air, the middle-aged man in the heavy black armor swept a cold gaze across the numerous forces. He then looked into the distance, paused, then gave a cold smile. “It seems like all are present. Since you are already here, do kindly show yourselves.”

His voice was calm, but seemed to contain a thunderclap, as it rang out across heaven and earth with a booming sound. Finally, it was as if the sound waves had materialized, then been transmitted across the distance.

The forces in the Skeleton Ridge were shocked at his words. Some of the lords of the great forces raised their heads, their eyes flashing with awareness.

Not long after the voice of the middle-aged man from Netherworld Palace rang out, the earth began to shake. A strong oppression of spiritual energy appeared to have penetrated the void, causing even the mountain range to tremble slightly.

Boom! Boom!

All of the forces raised their heads, feeling the vibration of the spiritual energy. Suddenly, they saw multi-colored currents, which were rolling out majestically from all corners of the horizon. In the time of ten breaths, the currents tore apart the void, then finally emerged in the sky, right above the Skeleton Ridge, like layers of clouds.

The grandeur of the armies that had emerged was so huge, it swallowed the sky! The rush of their vast and mighty spiritual energy caused the surrounding air to constantly twist, and the imposing presence released by the spiritual energy caused the expressions of the great forces to turn glum. This proved that there was indeed an insurmountable distance between the first class forces and the top forces.

“Divine Pavilion, Daluo Territory, Xuan Tian Hall, Holy Mountain, Demon’s Gate, Snake Shrine…”

“What a big military affair. Throw in Netherworld Palace, and pretty much all of the top forces of the North Territory have assembled! It is no exaggeration to call this the Grand Assembly.”

“The final battle of the Great Hunt War has not started yet, but they’ve already gone to such extremes. It seems that today’s grand assembly will not end so easily.”

“Heh, let them fight it out. If the top forces don’t fight like this, how can us tiny forces take this opportunity to rise to power? These top forces really take up too much of the North Territory’s resources.”

The armies, which were standing erect at the horizon, got the various bystanding forces whispering with awe, anticipation, and calculation. Clearly, with this emergence of countless massive objects from the horizon, the term “Grand Assembly” had became a fitting name!

As the whisperings filled the sky, Mu Chen raised his head, looking for the first time in the direction of Netherworld Palace. Scanning the army, Mu Chen saw a middle-aged man, clad in black armor. He tensed, sensing the danger, which rolled out like waves, coming from the mysterious man.

“That middle-aged man in black armor is Netherworld Palace’s Lord Heavenly Evil. He holds a very high position in Netherworld Palace, and his skills are of a Seventh Grade Sovereign. Among the various lords of the Daluo Territory, only Lord Asura is his match.” Nine Nether followed Mu Chen’s gaze, commenting in a low voice that was full of restrained fear.

Mu Chen nodded, his gaze darkening. He was just about to speak, when his expression changed. His gaze shifted horizontally to meet the gaze of Lin Min. The latter’s cold and sinister gaze was fixed on Mu Chen.

As Mu Chen met his gaze, Lin Min lifted the corners of his knife-edge-lips into a cold sneer. He licked his lips with his scarlet tongue, his gaze full of gluttony.

“This man is Lin Min. He it the one who captured Lord Glacier,” Nine Nether stated coldly.

Mu Chen nodded lightly. Meeting Lin Min’s sinister gaze, he squinted his eyes, sending the danger around him. Mu Chen ignored Lin Min’s provocation, merely turning his gaze quickly towards the other side of the horizon, where the armies of the Divine Pavilion were now assembled.

At the forefront of the Divine Pavilion, a white-haired man with a well-built body, who gave off an immensely oppressive feeling, stood. When his gaze swept past, one could feel his dragonic authority. The dangerous aura of this man was palpable.

“That is Lord Heavenly Dragon from the Divine Pavilion. He is the strongest among the Mountain Masters,” Nine Nether said. “Besides him, the second strongest is the Heavenly Divine General. He is the one heading Xuan Tian Hall, and who is also the strongest among all of the Divine Generals.”

“The old man in the white gown from the Holy Mountain is the head of the elders of the Holy Mountain. He is called the Holy Elder.” Nine Nether pointed towards the Holy Mountain, where an old man in a white gown was standing, holding a snakehead staff. “That one from Demon’s Gate is called Demon Fairy. She is well-known and considered to be a top-class master in the North Territory.”

By the Demon’s Gate army, a beautiful lady in a red dress was standing gracefully. Her seductive appearance was overwhelming. When her beautiful eyes scanned past, one could see the radiant glow and imposing nature in them.

“Also, Snake Shrine’s Python Elder…”

Nine Nether scanned the surroundings with her eyes, as she pointed out each master from the various top forces to Mu Chen. When she had finished, Mu Chen was vaguely awestruck. This so-called grand assembly really brought out all of the top forces! It would surely be apocalyptic, should these forces clash!

Mu Chen sighed in his heart, then felt someone’s gaze on him. When he raised his eyes, his gaze met the beautiful eyes of a lady in a white dress. Surprisingly, she was the Divine Pavilion’s Zhantai Liuli!

He met Zhantai Liuli’s gaze briefly, then they both turned away simultaneously. In this situation, they clearly could not show even the slightest friendliness, even though they had worked together before. This was due to the fact that they still belonged to two different camps at that moment.

“Haha, first and foremost, I would like to thank you on behalf of Netherworld Palace for your presence here.” Netherworld Palace’s Lord Heavenly Evil saluted, a slight smile on his face.

In response to his polite greeting, Lord Asura merely raised an eyebrow. He clearly had no intention of exchanging fake courtesies. The alarming sound of killing intent rang out gradually, as a shudder ran through all of the forces present. They were anticipating the main event that they felt was about to take the stage!

“Lord Heavenly Evil, between surrendering the person or opening fire, Netherworld Palace has to make a choice…”