The Great Ruler

After Mu Chen left the Second Hall, he immediately headed in the direction of the First Hall. He knew that he must bring Mandela’s original form away as soon as possible to ensure its safety. Otherwise, as soon as the great men of the Tianluo Continent arrived, Emperor Xia would hunt him down.

In order to protect himself from Emperor Xia and the Saint Demon King, who had a great feud with Mandela, he must let Mandela merge with her original form and breakthrough to become a Complete Earthly Sovereign. Otherwise, even if he could control the Spirit-slaughtering Troop, it would impossible for him to compete with an Upper Earthly Sovereign.

“Time is running out.” Mu Chen murmured.

Immediately, his figure transformed into a stream of light that surged across the sky. Within the sea, the waves rolled turbulently.

“This direction must lead to the First Hall, unless it is located in the sea?” Mu Chen saw this scene and was shocked.

He then pondered it a while, but was still determined to move forward regardless. He charged ahead, while the waves kept crashing in the sea tumultuously.

After Mu Chen swept across the ocean for more than ten minutes, he saw the islands emerge from the waves, above which stood the halls, showing the prosperity and prowess of the past.

He could see occasional glimpses of light coming from the islands, and it was clear that it was from the other powerful men who had broken into the First Hall. They were searching for the treasure! But Mu Chen ignored this, charging straight to the depths of the sea.

Mu Chen began to detect some of the traces of the spiritual array, which traces contained a very frightening force. Fortunately, these originally horrific spiritual arrays had been destroyed in the war and had thus been weakened. Otherwise, Mu Chen might have been in big trouble!

Whoosh!

Mu Chen soared through the sky, his eyes scanning the halls above the islands, constantly trying to identify the great hall that held Mandela’s original form. His search, however, took almost two hours!

As time passed, Mu Chen’s brows knit together. He had almost searched all of the islands in the sea, yet he still did not know where Mandela’s original form was located!

Mu Chen grit his teeth and flew towards the last unexplored area. An hour later, Mu Chen still had not found the hall!

“I have seen this hall before! It cannot be a myth!” Mu Chen mumbled. His face was calm, as he expressed his anxiety only in his heart, then forced himself to calm down as much as possible.

Why can’t I find it in this sea? I also haven’t found the First Hall Master’s residence!

Mu Chen pursed his mouth tightly as he surveyed the sea and murmured, “Unless it’s not in this sea?”

If it’s not here, then where would it be?

Mu Chen looked down at the tumultuous sea silently for a moment, his gaze turning solemn.

If it’s not in the sea, is it at the bottom of the sea?

Whoosh!

Mu Chen’s figure transformed into a stream of light as he charged downward, diving deep into the sea. His Spiritual Energy Sensor spread out, and then, he saw massive great halls that were deeply entrenched in the seabed. They looked like great sea monsters!

Mu Chen heaved a sigh of relief.

So, the real First Hall was at the bottom of the sea, not in the sea or on its surface! The First Hall Master’s preference was strange indeed!

Whoosh!

Mu Chen’s figure was like a speedy fish. As he swam across the sea, his Spiritual Energy Sensor spread out in all directions. This time, his detection finally bore some promising results.

“There you are!” Mu Chen exclaimed, as he appeared in front of some ruins on the seabed. Behind the ruins, there was an ancient dilapidated hall, the surroundings of which were the exact ones that Mu Chen had seen before.

In the depths of the hall, there seemed to be a strange intoxicating fragrance. It was the fragrance of the Mandala flower!

Mu Chen stared at the dilapidated hall, finally relieved. Then, he approached it carefully and landed before it, hesitating, then stepping in.

The inside of the hall had luckily been cut off from the sea water’s erosion, so it was still unusually vast. In ancient times, this would have been an important place within the First Hall.

The interior of the hall was quite run-down, as it had apparently experienced a ferocious war. Skeletons were scattered about, showing how brutal the war had been.

As Mu Chen’s gaze swept through the hall, his expression suddenly changed. He looked to the end of the hall and saw a stone door! Mandela’s original form should be right behind it!

However, two figures stood right in front of the stone door. Of the two figures, one was extremely familiar to Mu Chen. It was Garuda of the Saint Demon Palace, who looked at him with amusement, his arms folded in front of his chest.

Why is Garuda here?

Mu Chen’s expression turned stony. Looking at Garuda’s cocky posture, he was incensed. “Haha, it seems that someone did take advantage of the emergence of the Ancient Celestial Palace and come back to get her original form. But, I never expected that it would be you!”

Garuda smiled at Mu Chen, but did not reply. Mandela’s current form was in its infantile stage, which was much different than her original form. Now, as Garuda saw that it was Mu Chen who had appeared, he began to understand what was going on.

Mu Chen stared at Garuda, his tense expression gradually easing. The Saint Demon King should have known such things, as he had forced Mandela’s original form to hide here. Thus, he obviously didn’t want to allow Mandela to locate her original form and make a another breakthrough!

Thus, when Mandela had tried her best to find her original form, Lu Heng had used all kinds of means to obstruct her. At present, Garuda had been the one ordered to come!

Mu Chen’s gaze turned to the silhouette beside Garuda. This figure was dressed in black and white robes and seemed a little old, but there were no spiritual energy fluctuations around him.

This is actually exactly what caused Mu Chen to sense danger. He did not think that such a weak, old man could break through the barriers and come here.

Aware of Mu Chen’s gaze, Garuda smiled gently and said, “I wanted to fight you in a serious battle, just to see whose Great Solar Undying Body is better, but at the moment, it seems that you won’t have such an opportunity.”

When he finished speaking, he turned to the man in black and white robes, then bent slightly and said humbly, “Elder Zuo, Palace Master said that he does not want to see anyone enter this hall…”

When Mu Chen saw Garuda’s reverent demeanour, his pupils shrank suddenly. He looked again at the man in the black and white robes, disbelief fogging his mind… This is the elder of the Saint Demon Palace!

This elder must have stepped into the rank of an Earthly Sovereign by now! However, it was said that no Earthly Sovereigns could enter this Ancient Celestial Palace!

Then, how could the elder of the Saint Demon Palace come here without anyone noticing?

“Haha, strange, isn’t it?” Seeing Mu Chen’s startled appearance, Garuda smiled again and said, “The Ancient Celestial Palace is indeed unable to bear the supreme power of Earthly Sovereigns, so Saint Demon Palace paid a great price to let Elder Zuo infiltrate it. Even so, he has only one chance to strike, then his strength would suffer a big loss. In fact, it may take decades or even longer for him to do so.”

After hearing this, Mu Chen’s eyelids twitched. The Saint Demon King must be really cruel to prevent Mandela from getting her original form back. He was even willing to sacrifice his subordinate, who was an Earthly Sovereign!

However, Garuda’s words also eased Mu Chen’s tense heart, as it was clear that the Elder of the Saint Demon Palace was not at his peak and had already suffered a great deal of damage.

As Garuda was about to appreciate the fear and horror that would arise in Mu Chen’s face, his eyes narrowed, seeing only a proud smirk on Mu Chen’s face.

Mu Chen’s faint laugh then quietly rang out, as he said nonchalantly of the man in white and black robes, “So, he’s just a semi-disabled Lower Earthly Sovereign…”