The Great Ruler

The lady in a colorful dress stepped onto the gravel among the ruins. Her wavy hair and beautiful face were captivating, and the colorful snake on her shoulder made her look even more beautiful.

Mu Chen’s widened at the sight of her face. He then began to look awkward, a blush rising to his cheeks.

He knew this lady. She was Cai Xiao, also known as Xiao Xiao, who Mu Chen had met at the Dragon-Phoenix Rift.

She was the daughter of the legendary Flame Emperor. She came from a powerful background, just like Lin Jing.

Mu Chen had never expected that Xiao Xiao would be the problematic person that Lin Jing had mentioned! This had turned out to be a dispute between two of his friends!

As Mu Chen widened his eyes and looked at Xiao Xiao, she was shocked as well. After a while, she smiled back at him.

“Hey Mu Chen, what are you doing?” Lin Jing asked, as she noticed that something was not quite right with him.

Xiao Xiao stroked her small snake and sneered, “Mu Chen, we have not seen each other for at least a year. When did you take a part-time job as a bouncer?”

Lin Jing and Nine Nether were shocked when they heard her words. LinJing then looked at Mu Chen and asked him, “Do you know her?”

Mu Chen smiled wryly and said, “She is my friend. We fought together in the Dragon-Phoenix Rift.”

When Lin Jing heard this, she was shocked. She did not say a word, however, as she was embarrassed. This was an awkward situation!

She withdrew her spiritual energy immediately, since the lady was Mu Chen’s friend. After all, she was a magnanimous person.

At that moment, the Ice Spiritual Doll that had been hiding, while waiting for an opportunity to strike, appeared behind Lin Jing. After Lin Jing withdrew her spiritual energy, Xiao Xiao did the same. She then patted her colorful small snake, which slithered back into her shoulder.

Mu Chen heaved a sigh of relief, seeing that both of his friends had decided not to fight one another. As Xiao Xiao walked over, Mu Chen smiled and introduced Nine Nether to her. “This is my buddy, Nine Nether. She came with me from the North Territory.”

He then pointed at Lin Jing and said, “This is Lin Jing. Her father is the Martial Ancestor.”

He then looked at Nine Nether and Lin Jing and said, “This is Xiao Xiao. She is the daughter of the Flame Emperor.”

After Mu Chen had made the introductions, the three ladies looked at one another with shocked looks. Just one word from either the Martial Ancestor or the Flame Emperor could shake the entire Great Thousand World, and while the two of them rarely saw each other, their daughters had met each other today, and amid such awkward circumstances!

“I see. You are the Martial Ancestor’s daughter. My father praises your father. It is my pleasure to be able to spar with the Princess of the Martial Border.” Cai Xiao was shocked, as the Martial Ancestor was as famous as her father, and he was also one of the few people that her father had high a regard for in The Great Thousand World.

Lin Jing’s eyes brightened, and she said excitedly, “Oh, your father is the Flame Emperor. I have heard my father mention him. I respect your father a lot. If I had known who you are, I would not have vied with you for the Dragon Spiritual Pearl.”

Lin Jing was proud of her father, so she liked what her father liked. Hence, she respected the Flame Emperor. Naturally, she was truly excited when she discovered that Xiao Xiao was the Flame Emperor’s daughter!

Cai Xiao smiled and was happy that Mu Chen had arrived on time. If they had gotten into a fight, both of them would’ve been hurt. Moreover, it would be a disaster if they had caused a feud between sanctions over a Dragon Spiritual Pearl!

When Mu Chen saw that the two ladies had buried the hatchet, he heaved a sigh of relief. Fortunately, the two ladies had decided to be forgiving and not petty!

“Why are you here?” Mu Chen asked curiously, while looking at Xiao Xiao.

“The Ancient Celestial Palace has been set up by the Heavenly Emperor. I am out for my cultivation, so I thought that I should come and take a look. I had thought of visiting you in the North Territory, but I believed that you would not miss such an event, so I came here!”

Xiao Xiao smiled, then looked at Mu Chen in amazement and said, “You have progressed very quickly.”

When they were at the Dragon-Phoenix Rift, Mu Chen was still at Grade Three Sovereign. In less than two years, he had progressed all the way to Grade Nine Sovereign. Thus, Xiao Xiao was amazed by his progress!

“I still can’t beat you!” Mu Chen shrugged. When he had arrived earlier, he saw Xiao Xiao displaying her spiritual energy. Her strength was comparable to Zhu Yan’s, and she was at the highest level of Complete Grade Nine.

“Is this the Dragon Spiritual Pearl?” Mu Chen turned to look at the crystal pearl on the Skeleton Throne, figuring that this was what Lin Jing and Xiao Xiao had been fighting over earlier. Lin Jing and Xiao Xiao looked at each other and nodded awkwardly.

“How do you intend to share it?” Mu Chen asked. Since there was only one Dragon Spiritual Pearl, only one of them could have it. However, he had no intention of making the decision on its allocation.

When Lin Jing heard this, she smiled and said, “Let Sister Xiao have it. She has not obtained any treasure yet. I can do without it.”

Although the Dragon Spiritual Pearl was rare, Lin Jing had seen a lot of treasures. Moreover, a Dragon Spiritual Pearl was nothing compared to a friendship with Xiao Xiao.

When Xiao Xiao heard that Lin Jing had decided to let her have the Dragon Spiritual Pearl, she hesitated for a while before accepting it. She then nodded and said, “Thank you, Sister Lin Jing. This object is indeed useful to me. If I come across other treasures, I will give them to you as compensation.”

The colorful small snake then crawled out from her shoulder and hissed excitedly at the Dragon Spiritual Pearl.

Hisssss!

“Sister Xiao, you are too kind. Please go get your treasure,” Lin Jing said cheerfully.

Xiao Xiao nodded and moved toward the Skeleton Throne. However, just as she was about to get to the Throne, Mu Chen suddenly appeared beside her and stopped her.

Xiao Xiao was stunned and looked at Mu Chen with a baffled look. Lin Jing and Nine Nether rushed over, also looking curiously at Mu Chen. They did not know why he had behaved in this manner.

“Is there a problem?” Nine Nether knew Mu Chen well, so she knew that he must have a good reason for his actions.

Mu Chen stared at the Skeleton Throne, then turned to look at the ruins. He then nodded and said, “The ruins look strange.”

When Cai Xiao had passed near the ruins, Mu Chen had noticed some slight fluctuations coming from them. As the fluctuations had been concealed, Xiao Xiao and Lin Jing had not noticed them.

Mu Chen squatted down, then pressed his palm onto the ground and shut his eyes. When Xiao Xiao, Lin Jing, and Nine Nether saw this, they spread out to protect him.

After a while, Mu Chen opened his eyes. Spiritual light was surging on his palm, and he said flatly, “Something is not right.”

Boom!

Having said that, he hit hard on the ground, causing visible spiritual energy waves to shoot out from his palm.

Bang! Bang! Bang!

There were explosions in the ruins and many boulders were smashed. The ground then started to collapse.

Lin Jing, Xiao Xiao, and Nine Nether saw Spiritual Energy light beams appearing out of the ground, forming a large spiritual array, with the Skeleton Throne as its base. They were equally shocked to then see a huge white dragon emerge from under the collapsed ground. The huge dragon was surrounded by death-gas and its eyes were lifeless.

It had been laying quietly under the ground like a dead body, which was why Xiao Xiao and the rest had not noticed it before. Mu Chen had been able to sense it because of the spiritual array.

“It is a Corpse Puppet Dragon.” Xiao Xiao said, as she and the rest looked at the white dragon in amazement. They were not afraid of the Corpse Puppet Dragon, but they noticed that the spiritual array surrounding it posed a danger to them.

“What kind of spiritual array is this?” Xiao Xiao asked. She had a premonition that she would be in great danger if she had stepped into the spiritual array unprepared.

“This is a Corpse Spiritual Array. If you step into it, your spiritual energy will be suppressed. The death-gas would even suppress the level of a Complete Grade Nine Sovereign to Grade Seven,” Mu Chen said.

Xiao Xiao and Lin Jing were shocked when they heard this. If a Grade Nine Sovereign was suppressed to Grade Seven, he would be swallowed by the Corpse Puppet Dragon! They had never expected to find such a killer among the ruins!

“What shall we do now?” Xiao Xiao frowned. If they destroyed the spiritual array by force, they might destroy the Dragon Spiritual Pearl as well.

Mu Chen smiled, then said calmly, “Leave the spiritual array to me.”