The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

Following the departure of the Black Dragon Sovereign from the sky of the Western Desolated City, the originally tense atmosphere completely vanished into thin air. The sunlight that fell from the sky seemed to have regained some of its warmth.

Looking at the space where the Black Dragon Sovereign had disappeared, the forehead of Dean Tai Cang’s started to slightly wrinkle up, while chilling intent flashed within his abstruse eyes. Over these last few years, there were countless students training in the Northern Heavens Continent that had been buried under the hands of the Demonic Dragon Palace. This caused the grudges and grievances of the two sides to turn into a level of hatred that was seemingly irreconcilable.

However, although the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy couldn’t bear to completely wipe the Demonic Dragon Palace off the face of the world, this wasn’t an easy task to accomplish. The hidden cards of the Demonic Dragon Palace within the Northern Heavens Continent was, in some words, even more ancient than their Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. They were once the Overlords of this continent, all till the appearance of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy.

In their previous war, although the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy had achieved victory, they weren’t truly able to destroy the Demonic Dragon Palace into oblivion. The core of their strength still remained, causing the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy to maintain constant vigilance, as well as dread, against them. Although they wished to deal with this looming danger once and for all, they would have to be prepared to pay a great price for that. In fact, it might even result in Sovereigns falling from the sky.

This kind of price was something that even the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy was somewhat unwilling to shoulder. This was due to the fact that the opponents they had to contend against weren’t just merely restricted to the Demonic Dragon Palace in the Northern Heavens Continent. There were still various strong and powerful Spiritual Academies from other continents. The title of being one of the five Great Academies had given fame and reputation to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, while similarly casting them into the limelight. They didn’t know how many spiritual academies possessing similarly powerful strength as them were staring at them from the darkness. Once the might of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy weakened, they would take action, snatching away the title of one of the five Great Academies…

This battle would similarly be extremely cruel and bitter.

“What’s the Divine Spiritual Mountain, Dean?” asked Mu Chen with slight curiosity.

Shooting a look at Mu Chen, Dean Tai Cang replied, “That’s a sacred ground within the Northern Heavens Continent. It's said to be inherited from the ancient antiquity. It will open once every three years. If one was able to successfully enter the Divine Spiritual Mountain, one would obtain enormous blessings, which is know as the ‘Divine Spiritual Baptism’.”

“Divine Spiritual Baptism? Is it similar to the Spiritual Light Empowerment of our Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy?” Feeling startled, Mu Chen asked out doubtfully.

Unable to hold it in, Dean Tai Cang gave a laugh, before answering, “If the Spiritual Light Empowerment is able to be compared to the Divine Spiritual Baptism, the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy would have far exceeded the title of the Five Great Academies…”

“The Divine Spiritual Baptism doesn’t have an obvious effect of raising one’s strength. However, it’s still a place that would cause countless youths of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy to turn crazy because of what it is. That’s because, the Divine Spiritual Baptism is able to help construct a foundation…”

“Construct a foundation?” Mu Chen repeated while frowning. That didn’t seem like a formidable ability. There were many heavenly treasures that were also able to achieve such an effect.

“It’s not just any ordinary foundation. It's the foundation of a Sovereign stage…” With a smile, Dean Tai Cang replied to Mu Chen while shaking his head. Looking at the latter, he continued with his explanation. “Looks like you have yet to know the process to promote to Sovereign Stage, and exactly how much frightening tribulations are needed to be experienced.”

Mu Chen gave an awkward laugh in response. As of now, he hadn’t even broken through to Heavenly Completion Stage. Thinking about promoting to Sovereign Stage was too far fetched from him now. Although, it was the realm that he ultimately yearned for in his dreams.

“Only when your strength reaches the peak of Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase will you understand. It isn’t just another step that you have to take to properly promote into the Sovereign Stage…”

At this moment, Dean Tai Cang’s gaze turned solemn as he continued, “This is a true hole that everyone will face. Countless talents that shocked the world have stopped at this step, with some even falling from the sky.”

“Why’s that so?” Mu Chen asked.

“That’s because what comes after the Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase… is the ‘Three Sovereign Disasters’ that will make the faces of countless geniuses change upon hearing them. Only when one successfully passes through these three disasters would one be able to shape their Sovereign bodies, and truly promote and step into the Sovereign Stage!”

“The Three Sovereign Disasters…” Mu Chen muttered. Although it sounded somewhat foreign to him, for some unknown reason, a chilling intent radiated out from the depths of his bones.

“There are countless geniuses within this world, before these ‘three disasters’ there are quite a few of them who would have rapid progress in their cultivation stages, and display their astonishing talents. However, they had turned into ashes by these three disasters in the end, dissipating from the world.”

With a faint smile, Dean Tai Cang said, “Therefore, you should know by now why Sovereign Stage experts are able to possess such a status, am I right?”

Mu Chen swallowed his saliva, while his face turned slightly pale as he nodded his head. This was the first time that he had heard about the extreme difficulty and dangers one would actually face when promoting to Sovereign Stage.

“Does this have a relation with the so-called ‘Sovereign foundation’?” asked Mu Chen as he thought about what Dean Tai Cang had said.

“You’re very smart,” replied Dean Tai Cang with a faint smile as he nodded his head. “The three disasters are too frightening, If one isn’t careful, one would be turned into ashes. Even one’s Divine Soul would be hard pressed to escape. As for that Spiritual Baptism, it can help build a foundation for one’s Divine Soul, strengthening one’s resistance against the three disasters. At the same time, if the most dire situations were to occur, it can protect one’s Divine Soul during the three disasters, allowing one to have another chance of making a comeback.”

Faintly opening his mouth, Mu Chen exclaimed in astonishment, “That awesome?”

Although he had yet to make contact with the so-called “Three Sovereign Disasters”, he could feel that the absolute despair it would bring to people of they were to fail in them. However, this “Divine Spiritual Baptism” was able to allow people to preserve their lives during these “Three Sovereign Disasters”. This was absolutely too important to have. There might be countless experts with the qualifications to rush into the “Three Sovereign Disasters” that would pay any price just to obtain such protection.

At this moment, he finally understood why the so-called “Divine Spiritual Mountain” would become the greatest occasion within the Northern Heavens Continent. Compared to that, the Spiritual Light Empowerment of their Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy was truly not worth a second look.

At the same time, it had made his heart feel slightly itchy. This Divine Spiritual Mountain was too enticing. If he and Luo Li were able to get baptised by it, they would possess slightly more insurance for when they planned to rush into the Sovereign Stage in the future.

“Are we able to participate in it, Dean?” asked Mu Chen in a soft voice.

Hearing Mu Chen’s words, Dean Tai Cang gave a soft sigh, before replying, “The people participating in the Divine Spiritual Mountain are mostly the core geniuses of peak influences in the Northern Heavens Continent that have been painstakingly nurtured with their utmost resources. Our Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy is unable to gain any advantage on this aspect. That year, we had participated once, with the participating student being the first rank on our Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy’s Heavenly Rankings. However, in the end, he didn’t return. Therefore, after that, we have basically given up on this occasion.”

Mu Chen was slightly startled, before nodding his head. This didn’t mean that the students from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy had talents that were weaker than those people. It was just the way the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy works. All of those core geniuses were seemingly raised and nurtured by the various sects and families. Compared to them, the students of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy came from all sort of places and directions. Although they had trained and cultivated for a number of years, this time was too short when compared to those outstanding youths at the peak within the Northern Heavens Continent. It’s to the point of being able to lead to a great threat to the students.

This created a situation where students with strength would leave the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy upon becoming fully-fledged towards places at higher levels, seeking stronger Dao paths. As for the new students that had just entered, they would temporarily be unable to compare with those peak geniuses that had stayed in the Northern Heavens Continent for a long time. Therefore, this had created the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, which seemed to be a leviathan, but rarely produced any characters that were able to truly stand at the highest peak within the younger generations of the Northern Heavens Continent.

That’s because, the people that the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy receives were students, and not sect disciples or clan disciples that had to contribute their all for their clans or sects…

“As of now, the strongest student within our Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy rankings is Shen Cangsheng. His talent is extremely good. If he’s given a couple more years, wanting to exceed the peak talents within the younger generation in the Northern Heavens Continent isn’t a difficult matter. However, that won’t be happening now,” replied Dean Tai Cang.

Mu Chen faintly nodded his head. This time they had been forced to such a stage just to deal with Mo Longzi. What more could they achieve against the true elites within the peak of the younger generations? An example would be Mo Xingtian, who was an even stronger character than Mo Longzi.

However, he still had a slight feeling of not wanting to give up on that alluring “Divine Spiritual Baptism”. It was extremely important for him and Luo Li. After hesitating a moment, he gathered his courage and asked Dean Tai Cang, “Dean, would it be possible for me to give it a try?”

Dean Tai Cang’s eyes immediately narrowed as his stared at Mu Chen. After a while, shaking his head, he replied, “Your training and cultivating time is too short. Although I admit your capabilities, it's still too early for you to participate at the Divine Spiritual Mountain.”

Tilting his head, Mu Chen appeared wanting to say something. However, with a wave of his hand, Dean Tai Cang continued speaking, “Gather them all and prepare to return to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. Every student back at the academy is still waiting for news about you guys.”

After completing his statement, a laugh rang out of him as he looked towards Mu Chen and said, “This time, I’m afraid that you’ve become a hero for our Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy. Even Mo Longzi was beaten down by you.”

Mu Chen gave an embarrassed smile, before turning around and shooting of towards Shen Cangsheng and the rest.

Looking at the back figure of Mu Chen, a expression of deep pondering flashed within Dean Tai Cang’s eyes, appearing as if he was thinking of something.

Under the Spiritual Energy nourishment from everyone, Lin Zheng and the other two had successfully woken up gradually from their stupors. Embarrassed and guilty expressions were present on their faces. Although they were in a stupor earlier, that didn’t mean that they were totally unclear of what had happened.

“Haha, Senior Brother Lin Zheng. That Mo Longzi had long reached Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase. We truly weren’t his match. Even I had lost.” Shen Cangsheng spoke out while sending a candid smile. “However, we’re fortunate to have that fellow, Mu Chen, fight and beat that fellow, Mo Longzi, up for us. Even I don’t know if he will be able to live after that beating.”

“Mu Chen defeated Mo Longzi?”

Lin Zheng and the other two were slightly dumbfounded as they looked towards Mu Chen with inconceivable expressions within their eyes. Heavenly Transformation Stage Late Phase against Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase. They were simply unable to imagine how this disparity was bridged by the latter.

Shrugging his shoulders, Mu Chen spoke out. “I was just lucky this time… Our mission’s complete. Let’s go back to the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy first, alright?”

Nodding their heads, everyone started to support their injured compatriots, before shooting into the sky.

Mu Chen fell to the back and headed off together with Luo Li. Looking at the sparkling jade-like face of the young girl that was exquisite to the point of perfection, he quietly extended his hand, and grasped the slender and chilling jade-like hands of the young girl.

Luo Li’s lovable face turned slightly red as she shot a coquettish glare at Mu Chen. The latter, however, sent a grin back over while saying, “Ain’t I awesome?”

Luo Li rolled her eyes unhappily towards him, her coquettish looks were extremely alluring, while an amusing laugh rang out within her heart. This fellow always maintained a humble and modest appearance in front of others, and yet he always acted so proud of himself in front of her, making her really want to give him a bite.

However, when Luo Li noticed the remnants of the wounds still present on his body, her clear and limpid eyes turned much more gentle. Her small hand gently grasped Mu Chen’s hand, and her angled loveable and snow-white chin gave a gentle nod. A soft and gentle “Mhm” sound rang out, satisfying the little bit of vanity present in Mu Chen’s heart.

Floating in the sky, Dean Tai Cang looked towards everyone from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy before nodding his head. Turning around to cup his fist and smile towards the Western Extreme Sovereign, he spoke out, “Sorry for the trouble this time, Old Brother Western Extreme.”

“It’s alright, it’s alright,” replied the Western Extreme Sovereign with a smile and a wave.

Without continuing to waste time talking, spatial fluctuations instantly enveloped everyone with a wave of his sleeve. As space started to distort, everyone disappeared into thin air.

Looking at the place where the people from the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy had disappeared into, the eyes of the Western Extreme Sovereign faintly narrowed before speaking out with a faint smile, “Never imagined that the Demonic Dragon Palace’s Mo Longzi would actually get beaten up. Looks like they will have one less participant in the Divine Spiritual Mountain this time.”

“In the first place, Mo Longzi’s not sufficient to be feared.” Beside him, Xi Qinghai spoke out with a smile. From his tone and words, he didn’t place Mo Longzi much within his eyes.

“I don’t know of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy will participate this time…after this matter, that Shen Cangsheng might breakthrough into the Heavenly Completion Stage Late Phase,” said the Western Extreme Sovereign.

Shaking his head, Xi Qinghai spoke out in a soft voice, “Even if Shen Cangsheng breaks through, the threat he poses isn’t great. Although he’s quite talented, his cultivating time is much shorter than us…”

Speaking until here, there was a small pause in his words as he muttered to himself.

“That Freshman by the name of Mu Chen…truly is somewhat unfathomable.”