The Great Ruler (Web Novel)
chapter-1201-2

Chapter 1201.2: New Force

The Ancient Celestial Palace was expected to cause a great commotion in the Tianluo Continent with the return of the various outstanding top powers. After all, be it the resurrection of the Demon Emperor, or the appearance of the Flame Emperor and the Martial Ancestor, they brought an intimidating impact.

No one would have expected that the opening of the Celestial Palace could trigger such a catastrophe right from the start. If not for the appearance of the Flame Emperor and the Martial Ancestor, the Tianluo Continent would have been the first victim of the catastrophe when the Demon Emperor escaped.

If the Demon Emperor, who was equivalent to a Heavenly Sovereign, had started his killing spree, the entire Tianluo Continent would have been instantly turned into a hell on earth. Just thinking about it made everyone shiver. Fortunately, that terrifying situation had not happened.

When the Flame Emperor and the Martial Ancestor joined forces, they wiped out the Demon Emperor’s chance of survival. At the same time, they helped the Tianluo Continent evade the possibility of getting exterminated. As the news spread around, everyone respected and admired the Flame Emperor and Martial Ancestor even more.

While everyone in the Tianluo Continent felt gratitude towards the Flame Emperor and the Martial Ancestor, the Saint Demon Palace instantly lost all their favors and powers. All those top powers in it turned against the Saint Demon Palace and ran away. They did not dare to have any ties with it anymore.

After all, it was an unforgivable sin to connect with the Extraterritorial Race in the Great Thousand World. Not only did Lu Heng have a connection with it, but he had attempted to resurrect the Demon Emperor. It was an absolutely shameless and despicable act.

As such, the mighty Saint Demon Palace was torn apart within a few days. The few nearby forces showed their hideous faces by seizing the territories in the blink of an eye. The Saint Demon Palace that was once huge and powerful became history in the Tianluo Continent overnight.

When Mu Chen and the rest came out from the Ancient Celestial Palace, the Saint Demon Palace was already stripped clean. They felt pity about it, as it could have helped strengthen the North Territory Alliance if they could have had a share in it. After all, the Saint Demon Palace was quite wealthy. However, it was just a passing thought, as they had the most precious thing that could build and strengthen the entire Daluo Territory – the Ancient Celestial Palace.

After returning to Daluo Territory, Mandela did not want Mu Chen to be distracted. She got Mu Chen to go into a period of secluded cultivation. Although Mu Chen had made a breakthrough to Lower Earthly Sovereign, he had done it in a hurry, and the time span was short. Hence, he had not been able to master control of the full power of it yet. His immediate task was to secure and stabilize his condition to avoid future trouble.

Mu Chen had no objections. He knew very well that it was an unexpected opportunity for him to break through to Lower Earthly Sovereign, and it had been done through a shortcut. If he had not had a solid foundation, the breakthrough could have caused a disaster for him in the long run.

Hence, the first thing Mu Chen needed to do was stabilize his condition as soon as possible after settling down. He needed to have full control over the strength of the Lower Earthly Sovereign level. And so, Mu Chen spent close to a month in his secluded cultivation…

While he was cultivating, Mu Chen entered the Ancient Celestial Palace several times with the help of the Celestial Emperor Sword. He was the owner of the palace now. Thus, those remaining powerful Spiritual Arrays were unable to stop him. He could almost roam freely in it.

During his roaming, he had some unexpected surprises, and he discovered some treasures. His first surprise was the incomplete Spiritual Array scrolls found within the palace. The Spiritual Array was named the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array.

This Spiritual Array was the one that Mu Chen was practicing. However, Mu Chen only had a part of the scroll, and he was struggling to lay out a Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array with it. Using the incomplete scroll, he could only manage to cultivate three dragons from it. That was the maximum. The power displayed was only one-third of its completed form.

Even so, one-third of the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array was sufficient to counter a Lower Earthly Sovereign, as this should be a Middle-Grade Ancestral Master’s Spiritual Array. Once it was laid out perfectly, it could even trap an Upper Earthly Sovereign, and escaping from it would be difficult.

Mu Chen could not be happier with this reap. After all, he had been eyeing the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array. He felt somewhat frustrated since he could not find the complete scroll. Even with Mandela’s help, it would be difficult to find such a Spiritual Array at this level and grade.

Such a rare, precious thing was found while Mu Chen was scavenging through the palace. How could this not be a surprise? Hence, he also used a large portion of his time to study the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array scrolls in his remaining secluded cultivation. He hoped he could learn to use it in the future.

Of course, given Mu Chen’s current capability, he might need more training if he wanted to display the complete form of the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array. However, at the very least, when he displayed it again with the complete scrolls, the power would be much mightier than before.

After he got those scrolls from the palace, Mu Chen did not stop. He scavenged the entire palace, and he dug up some other unexpected things. To be more exact, he found a troop.

It was an elite troop under the First Hall Master’s command named the Demon Subduing Troop. The troop was so formidable that it even surpassed the Spirit-Slaughtering Troop. Rumor had it that the Extraterritorial Race was attacked extensively by this Demon Subduing Troop when they invaded the Ancient Celestial Palace.

Of course, the main force of the Demon Subduing Troop had been eliminated in that war, but some dead warriors circulated some secret magic and transformed themselves into puppet warriors.

Mu Chen found them in the sea where the First Hall Master was. Mu Chen dug out nearly thousands of black stone statues from the mud. Under normal circumstances, it would be necessary to have the First Hall Master’s Commander’s Seal to command the Demon Subduing Troop, but that was ruined, and it would be impossible to find it. The fortunate thing was, Mu Chen had a better item than the Commander’s Seal – the Celestial Emperor Sword.

Although the Demon Subduing Troop was under the First Hall Master’s command, the Celestial Emperor was the highest authority. As such, when Mu Chen took out the Celestial Emperor Sword, all the retaliation from the Demon Subduing Troop disappeared at once. Eventually, Mu Chen kept them for his own.

Mu Chen not only found the complete scroll of the Nine Dragon Devouring Fairy Array, he even got the Demon Subduing Troop, which was more powerful than the Spirit-Slaughtering Troop. He could not help but feel overwhelmed by it.

Luckily, he was a detail oriented person. After Mu Chen pondered for a while, he felt that the timing was too coincidental. Be it the scroll or the troop, he could not have found either so quickly since they were deeply hidden. All of it seemed to be controlled by an invisible hand, but there was no one except Mu Chen in this palace. Or maybe…There was another thing watching him.

The Hidden Scripture Pavillion!

The Hidden Scripture Pavillion was rather profound. Despite the fact that Mu Chen had reached Lower Earthly Sovereign, he could not detect its location at all. Apparently, it had high intelligence. The things that it did could be out of kindness, since Mu Chen was the new owner of the Ancient Celestial Palace. No matter what, Mu Chen cupped his fist and bowed to the air in the palace. He could only do this to thank the Hidden Scripture Pavilion for its generosity.

While he was delighted over his gains, he received a message from Mandela asking him to end his cultivation and return to Daluotian for some important matters.

…

Daluotian.

When Mu Chen rushed into the hall, not only was Mandela around, but the five Lower Earthly Sovereigns including the Holy Ancestor, Liu Tiandao, and the Goblin Emperor were there, too.

The well-known Sovereigns in the North Territory nodded at Mu Chen as a form of greeting. Of course, if it were the past Mu Chen, they would not have given any form of greeting, given their status and capabilities. But things had changed. After Mu Chen came out of the Ancient Celestial Palace, he had made it to the Lower Earthly Sovereign, which was on par with them now. Since Mu Chen has reached this level, he had equal status. Hence, they did not dare to be cocky.

Mu Chen nodded to them, returning the gesture. He sat beside Mandela. Elders such as the Sleeping King from Daluo Territory were standing behind Mu Chen.

Mandela nodded when she saw Mu Chen arrive. She lifted her small face and looked at the five of them. With an indifferent voice she said, “I guess you all know the reason why I called you here. We have access to the Ancient Celestial Palace, and we are using it to serve as our foundation.”

While Mu Chen had been cultivating, Mandela had notified Liu Tiandao and the rest about it. They remained calm on the surface, even though they felt surprised. In fact, they were rejoicing, as they knew how precious the Ancient Celestial Palace was. If they could connect to it, it would be extremely helpful with their cultivation in the future.

“Although we have formed the North Territory Alliance, there was no teamwork, and everyone acted of their free will, so I have decided to create a new force. If anyone wishes to participate in this force, you will have to give up your sects and lead your disciples to be part of it,” said Mandela slowly, looking around with her pitch-black eyes.

The five Lower Earthly Sovereigns had a slight change in their expressions when they heard this. Hesitation flashed in their eyes. What Mandela meant was that she was going to unite the entire North Territory. Once they were in, they could no longer rule how they used to, as they would have a real leader and ruler over their heads.

This was somewhat uncomfortable for them. After all, they were used to being above everyone else in their own sects. Hence, they could not adapt to the idea of serving someone else as their leader.

If Mandela had requested this in the past, they would have joined hands to object. But now, Mandela had already reached the Complete Earthly Sovereign level. She way surpassed them in terms of capability. Moreover, apart from Mandela, there was Mu Chen, who had just reached Lower Earthly Sovereign. They had to admit that it was impossible to go against the current Daluo Territory, even if they joined hands now.

“Anyone who does not wish to participate can leave the North Territory now,” said Mandela, again without any emotion. Her tone was calm yet dictatorial. Even the five Lower Earthly Sovereigns could not express their anger because they knew she had the right to say that.

As such, they pondered for a moment, and eventually nodded slowly. They said in a united voice, “We are willing to join!”

Because Mandela had reached the Complete Earthly Sovereign level, and she was the only outstanding one in the entire Tianluo Continent, under her protection they could have security, and the current status of the Tianluo Continent would be leveled up. Daluo Territory would become a well-known and recognized overlord, even outside of the North Territory.

Moreover, Mandela had control over the Ancient Celestial Palace. With such a precious land serving as their foundation in the sect, they would have a bright future ahead. In times to come, they could even become one of the super forces in the Great Thousand World.

When the time come, they were the elders of this new force, and their status would be incomparable. Hence, after weighing the pros and cons, the five Lower Earthly Sovereigns decided to participate in it.

Mandela remained calm when she saw this. Apparently, it was within her expectation. However, things did not end there. She smiled and said, “Since no one has any objections, I’ll announce another thing. The ruler of this new force will be Mu Chen.”

Silence fell in the hall.

Even Mu Chen’s eyes popped wide open. He was looking at Mandela with a face full of shock and surprise.

What is going on?