The Great Ruler (Web Novel)
chapter-708

Blood Hawk Palace.

Lord Blood Hawk was seated at the top of the audience hall as his blood-red pupils slowly swept over the hall. None of Blood Hawk Palace's high-level officials dared to make eye contact with his indifferent gaze.

Lord Blood Hawk looked over at Wu Tian and asked in a light tone, "Wu Tian, how many Blood Hawk Troops can you control?"

Wu Tian hesitated for a moment before saying, "It should be up to about 2,500."

Lord Blood Hawk slightly narrowed his eyes. He pondered for a moment before saying, "Although there is a limited number of Nine Nether Troops, that chap named Mu Chen has some know-how. We have no choice but to put our guard up. As for this fight, you must win!

"Thus… I want you to take control of all the Blood Hawk Troops!"

Wu Tian was surprised. He hesitated for a moment before saying, "My Lord, with my current capability, if I were to take full control of the Blood Hawk Troop, I'm afraid I would be devoured by the fighting spirit."

Lord Blood Hawk clenched his fist, and a dull red pill appeared in a flash. It was continuously releasing miraculous columns of bright light, and a sort of bizarre wave was rippling out from it.

"This is an Ethereal Pill. When the time comes, swallow it, and it will cause you to enter a temporary ethereal state. Then you will be able to bear all of Blood Hawk Troop's accumulated fighting spirit."

Wu Tian was extremely delighted upon hearing this. Who would've thought that Lord Blood Hawk would have such a marvelous pill in his hands? Additionally, with this pill he would be able to take full control of the Blood Hawk Troop. Thus, it would definitely be enough to crush Mu Chen and the Nine Nether Troop.

When the time came, it wouldn't matter how many tricks Mu Chen still had hiding up his sleeve. They would all undoubtedly be doomed to fail!

"Rest assured, my Lord. I will make Nine Nether Palace regret their actions of offending us, the Blood Hawk Palace!" A ferocious smile emerged on Wu Tian's face.

"If there is a chance, then make the Nine Nether Troop disappear. The Nine Nether Palace without its Nine Nether Troop will be reduced to a joke," Lord Blood Hawk said with a satisfied smile.

"As my Lord commands!" Wu Tian said with an awe-inspiring smile. He was already anxious to see the look of despair on Mu Chen's face when he appeared leading 5,000 Blood Hawk Troops.

This time, he would ensure that the Nine Nether Palace was utterly disgraced!

...

News about the eventual crossing of swords between the Nine Nether Troop and the Blood Hawk Troop spread across Daluo Territory like the wind. However, it was not surprising that it caused uproars within Daluo Territory.

For the past few years, the reputation of the Blood Hawk Troop in Daluo Territory had increasingly strengthened. Their overall strength could practically place them within the top three in the rankings of Daluo Territory's many legions. On the other hand, the Nine Nether Troop belonged at the bottom of the rankings.

Thus, many people could see that they were not even on the same level, and so they wondered why Nine Nether Palace would accept this fight, even though the stakes given by Lord Blood Hawk were extremely enticing.

But no matter how enticing the stakes were, they would still need good fortune to enjoy them.

In many people's eyes, Nine Nether Palace must have been tempted by the stakes this time and thus, decided to give it a shot. But didn't they think of what would happen if they lost? There was a high possibility that the Nine Nether Palace would truly be ruined. Furthermore, when that time came, even if they had the support of the Condor King, it would still be extremely difficult for the Nine Nether Palace to have a foothold in Daluo Territory again.

After all, there were quite a number of similarly strong vassal forces within Daluo Territory. These forces were constantly coveting the positions of the princes of Daluo Territory. This was because the moment they acquired that position, they would be able to truly become Daluo Territory's direct line of power. At that time, the protection and resources afforded by such a position would definitely exceed that of a normal vassal force.

Thus, Nine Nether Palace could not afford to lose this fight.

...

However, while the whole of Daluo Territory was abuzz with discussions about the fight, Nine Nether Palace chose the unusual move of remaining silent, and none of their news was being spread. Additionally, they were even more heavily guarded to the point that outsiders had absolutely no means of finding out about the activity within.

In a mountain deep within the Nine Nether Palace.

There was a vast flat land within the verdant mountain, and currently on that surface were streams of black-armored shadows sitting cross-legged silently. Like a huge rock, their figures were unmoving.

Right above the streams of silhouettes was a slender shadow sitting cross-legged while floating in mid-air. His slightly closed eyes slowly opened. There were rays of light flickering from his palm before a blood-tainted bamboo scroll appeared with a flash.

The bamboo scroll was presented in a tattered fashion and gave off a feeling of dilapidation. But the air of iron and blood that assaulted the senses warned people not to underestimate it, even in the slightest.

Mu Chen's expression was also particularly serious. He held the bamboo scroll in his hand and soon after, stuck it lightly on his forehead. Suddenly, there was a surge of brilliant rays on the bamboo scroll. Finally, everything was poured into Mu Chen's mind.

An air of iron and blood was directly instilled in Mu Chen's mind like a flood. Countless sounds of fighting at close quarters soared up into the sky. At that moment, it was as if he had a dream of returning to the ancient battlefield.

The ancient and blood-tainted scenes flit through his mind. In those scenes, he could only see dark masses of troops permeating the space between the sky and land. They were walking in an orderly formation, and with every step, even the sky and land would tremble beneath their feet.

That kind of vehemence was simply unstoppable.

Mu Chen shifted his slightly stunned attention towards the middle of the troop. It seemed that there was a blurry shadow silently sitting cross-legged there. That shadow was not upright and tall, but it was enough to let a person know by just a glance that he was the ruler of this terrifying legion.

When Mu Chen looked over, that silhouette's palm was also lifting slightly.

"Fight!"

That troop was so strong, it instilled fear in people. It erupted in a thunderous roar, and soon after, he could only see countless majestic fighting spirits soaring up to the sky. The space was almost going to collapse.

Roar!

The majestic and expansive fighting spirit was practically condensed into a substance. Finally, with a surge of howls, it actually turned into a giant nine-headed dragon. The moment it cried into the air, everything within the perimeter of 100,000 miles immediately disintegrated. After that, the giant nine-headed dragon opened its mouth, and nine lofty and enormous beams intertwined as they burst out.

The target of that terrifying attack was the large fissure in the distance. That seemed to be the world of the Lower Planes. But within it, a strange, towering atmosphere was stirring. 

That seemed to be a world of Lower Planes occupied by an extraterritorial clan!

Boom!

The terrifying light beam flooded their eyes, and it was also indescribably fast. With a flash, it pierced through the space of a million miles and shot directly into that world of Lower Planes.

When the terrifying attack burst into that world, there was no earth-shattering explosion like one would expect. Instead, that world of Lower Planes was immediately erased in that space distortion.

At the same time, the extraterritorial clan in those Lower Planes was also wiped out...

With just one move, it managed to obliterate a world of Lower Planes!

Hiss!

When Mu Chen saw this, he suddenly couldn't help but take a deep breath of cold air. What a terrifying troop, and what a petrifying war troop dispatcher… It looked like what Mandela said was right. In those ancient times, a top notch war troop dispatcher did have a shocking strength which was comparable to that of the Heavenly Sovereign.

Nevertheless, they needed to rely on the power of the legion.

The ancient scene was also gradually collapsing. Finally, it completely fragmented and disappeared. Along with the disappearance of these fragments, a seemingly ancient message welled up from Mu Chen's heart.

These message was slightly dilapidated. Clearly it had been damaged, but the few isolated phrases which would occasionally appear revealed a sense of mystery which a person couldn't help but to plunge into.

"The rule of war is that it is most disadvantageous for one to control with strength."

"In contrast, it is the most advantageous for one to control with heart."

"..."

Mu Chen was immersed in those abstruse words. A long time went by before he slowly opened his eyes. His eyes looked as if he were still lost in thought. There was no method of practice for warfare in this dilapidated bamboo scroll, but he was able to realize something due to the things within it.

For example, the mastery of the fighting spirit.

Before this, whenever he controlled the condensed fighting spirit of the Nine Nether Troop, it was always forcefully urged by a feat of his own strength and willpower. But this sort of behavior seemed to be precisely the "most disadvantageous way" the bamboo scroll had mentioned.

"It is most disadvantageous for one to control with strength."

"It is most advantageous for one to control with heart."

But how does one use their heart to control such a majestic fighting spirit?

Mu Chen was lost in thought. Even after a long time went by, he still had no clue. Thus, he lowered his head and looked downwards at the Nine Nether Troop. The moment he waved his palm, the entire Nine Nether Troop made a low sound before the majestic fighting spirit soared up into the sky.

On the other hand, Mu Chen, who was sitting cross-legged in the middle of the majestic fighting spirit, closed his eyes and sensed them.

At the peak of a mountain not so far away, Nine Nether, Tang Bing, and Tang Rou were looking over in the direction of the deep mountain. There was a hint of worry in their pretty eyes.

"Elder sister Nine Nether, will Mu Chen really succeed?" Tang Rou asked in a low voice.

Nine Nether lightly bit her red lips, for even she herself was not certain of this. After all, war troop dispatchers were rare, and there was no one who could professionally guide Mu Chen. It was obvious that it would be difficult for him to cross the threshold. 

"Judging by Lord Blood Hawk's personality, he will definitely use unscrupulous divisive tactics in this fight. If Mu Chen does not succeed, then I'm afraid the chances of us winning will not be too high," Tang Bing said worriedly.

Nine Nether slightly nodded her beautiful head. Then, her pretty eyes looked over at Mandela, who was swinging her pale calves as she sat at the side of the cliff. But before Nine Nether could say anything, the little girl said with a lazy tone, "Don't look for me. I was never supposed to take part in this matter. If it weren't because I have a request this time, I would never have helped you all.

"So whether or not he will come to a realization, that will be up to his own ability. This is all I can do. Otherwise, it would be incompatible with my identity."

"What identity?" Nine Nether asked doubtfully.

But Mandela did not answer. Those big golden eyes only looked blankly over at the slender shadow far away. She, too, was slightly curious as to whether this person would be able to obtain a realization from that dilapidated "Heart of Warfare."