The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

As Mu Chen’s group sped through the forest as quick as lightning, shadows and humongous trees alike flashed past them. Finally breaking away from the darkness, they were once again enveloped by the familiar sunlight.

The warm sunlight shone down, causing them to inadvertently relax from their state of constant tension. Nevertheless, not being inexperienced rookies, they quickly recovered and focused their attention, cautiously sweeping their gazes around and scanning their surroundings. Suddenly, their expressions froze as shock surfaced within their eyes.

In the deepest part of the forest was a stretch of mountainous woods filled with lush and verdant vegetation. At this instant, an enormous light pillar had shot into the sky from the land before them, appearing clearly visible from more than a hundred miles away. Evidently, this was the origin of the light pillar they had spotted earlier while in the depths of the forest.

Carefully looking over, they discovered that a large, glowing tree stood within the light pillar. Swaying gently, it radiated with rich and exuberant life force, along with a strange, sweet fragrance that hung in the air. Breathing in this fragrance caused them to feel the Spiritual Energy within their bodies to circulate more vigorously.

There seemed to be emerald-green fruits suspended from the large, glowing tree. The fruits had light halos floating around them, and a dense life force diffused from the fruits.

“That’s…”

As Mu Chen’s group stared at the huge tree in the light pillar, they could not suppress the shock and astonishment from surfacing within their eyes.

Tang Mei’er muttered in shock, “Could that be the Divine Spiritual Tree?”

The Divine Spiritual Tree was an extremely rare heavenly treasure, born from the endless life force of the heavens and the earth. It was said that the fruits from the Divine Spiritual Tree were greatly beneficial in the tempering of one’s fleshly body, and were able to remove all impurities from the body. During the Ancient Antiquity, formidable clans and ancient sects had put in large amounts of effort and resources to grow a Divine Spiritual Tree, with the aim of nurturing their younger generations. Hence, their younger generation members would always be exceptionally powerful.

However, as of now, the Divine Spiritual Tree had become extremely rare. Only powerhouses armed with formidable strength could possess such a treasure. In fact, the amount of strength and resources required was so copious that even the five Great Academies lacked the ability to own one. Henceforth, they were shocked to find a Divine Spiritual Tree growing so vibrantly in this location, and even bearing so many fruits.

Xu Huang and the others were now breathing heavily. Currently, they were at the most pivotal moment in attempting to pass the Human Body Disaster. However, due to the extreme danger of attempting to pass it, they could possibly lose their lives if any accidents were to occur. Not daring to rashly attempt it, they could only approach it cautiously. However, if they were able to obtain the Divine Spiritual Fruit, this problem would be easily resolved. Even if it did not offer a perfect guarantee in passing the Human Body Disaster, on the off-chance to them failing, they would be able to keep their lives, at the very least. To them, this was the most important factor.

On the other hand, Mu Chen had quickly recovered from his state of shock. Having undergone the Divine Spiritual Baptism, he did not have to worry about the Human Body Disaster. Thus, the enticement of the fruits did not get to his head. Looking at the Divine Spiritual Tree swaying gently in the light pillar, he slightly scrunched his brows. Something felt slightly off, yet he was unable to put his finger on just what it was.

“Whew.”

Everyone’s breathing gradually turned heavier, while their eyes slowly turned red. Unable to restrain themselves any further, they shot forward, each one trying to snatch the treasure for himself.

“Humph!”

Watching the hunger in their eyes, Mu Chen’s thoughts wavered. Suddenly, he let out a low roar. Infused with Spiritual Energy, the roar was akin to a sudden clap of thunder, exploding beside the ears of the Xu Huang and the others.

Their bodies spasmed as a buzzing sound echoed in their ears. While the redness in their eyes slightly dissipated, they blankly stared at Mu Chen.

“Be careful, there’s something off about this Divine Spiritual Tree.” Mu Chen commented softly. The Xu Huang trio were not rash people; however, it felt like their earlier actions were being controlled by something. This was indeed a strange and weird place.

Xu Huang and the others had recovered at this moment, and were spontaneously drenched in cold sweat. Looking back at the Divine Spiritual Tree, their gazes were now filled with caution and wariness.

“Try your best to inhale as little of that fragrance as possible…” Luo Li suddenly voiced out. “Although it seems that the fragrance speeds up the circulation of Spiritual Energy and brings about a soothing feeling, if you lose yourself in that feeling, you will become entranced… this tree, might not actually be a Divine Spiritual Tree…”

Mu Chen, Tang Mei’er, and the rest were shocked. This tree in front of them looked exactly the same as the recorded appearance of the Divine Spiritual Tree. However, they had truly never heard of the Divine Spiritual Tree having the ability to entice people into a trance and cause them to lose conscious thought.

Swish! Swish!

Just as Mu Chen and the others cautiously glanced at the huge tree in the middle of the light pillar, many swooshing sounds suddenly flooded the surrounding area. The Dark Origin Forest behind them showed signs of fluctuations, while a multitude of silhouettes shot out like lightning, landing in the lush vegetation around them.

These were all groups that had charged through the Dark Origin Forest. However, many groups had suffered heavy injuries and appeared to be in a sorry state, suffering either heavy injuries or missing members. Evidently, they had paid a heavy price to arrive here.

Swish!

Yet another group of shadows shot out and landed on a small hill, with a familiar figure within the group, causing Mu Chen to slightly squint his eyes. Beside him, Tang Mei’er and the rest tightly clenched their teeth and stared at the group with icy gazes. That group was Xia Hou and his group from Saint Spiritual Academy.

Upon arriving, Xia Hou naturally noticed Mu Chen and the others’ gazes. Upon realising that Mu Chen was with Tang Mei’er and the others, his gaze slightly froze.

A team member whispered beside Xia Hou, “Captain, it seems like Tang Mei’er has joined forces with Mu Chen. It is very likely that they will take action against us.”

Xia Hou slightly nodded. Although he wasn’t afraid of Tang Mei’er’s group or Mu Chen’s group, if they were joining forces, they would be able to cause some trouble to his group. It would seem that their earlier actions towards Tang Mei’er had given Mu Chen a convenient opportunity. Nevertheless,they were too naive to think that teaming up would allow them to topple him.

“It doesn’t matter. When the time comes, we’ll give them a good surprise…” Xia Hou said with a smirk. Glancing back at the Dark Origin Forest behind him, he commented, “I wonder what happened to the team from Martial Spiritual Academy…”

Swish!

Just as the words left his mouth, swooshing sounds rushed out from the Dark Origin Forest, and multiple figures violently shot out. Their appearance caused many to cry out in surprise.

Mu Chen and Tang Mei’er’s gazes instantly swept over, and their expressions instantly changed.

The figures that had just charged out of the forest were familiar; it was the group from Martial Spiritual Academy. However, the group seemed to have suffered greatly. From their original five members, they currently had only four left, with many serious injuries present on the remaining four. Even Zhou Yuan, whose body was solid as a metal tower had an extremely pale complexion. Fresh blood continuously flowed from his hand in which he grasped his metal pole.

They seemed to have experienced a bitter fight.

At this moment, there were at least a hundred teams in this area. Upon witnessing the current state of Zhou Yuan’s group, all of them broke out in cries of alarm. They never expected to see his group in such a miserable condition.

Some gazes started shifting around, while dark glints gushed forth from the eyes of some of the stronger teams. Although they would not normally dare to take action against the team from Martial Spiritual Academy, the present situation was an opportunity to take down a weakened titan. Taking this opportunity might net them some considerable benefits…

Clearly noticing those gazes filled with ill intent, Zhou Yuan did not say anything. Simply waving to his teammates, he allowed his team to rest while he stood guard with a dark expression and tightly gripped his metal pole. A ruthless expression, akin to that of a tiger, was present on his face, while his stance had a tinge of craziness present within, intimidating the other teams into not taking one bit of strange action.

As they witnessed this scene, a trace of a smile appeared within the eyes of Xia Hou and his team. Nevertheless, they did not take action, simply glancing at the Dark Origin Forest, before retracting their gaze.

“Zhou Yuan and his group were actually injured to this extent… exactly who did it?” Mu Chen wore a heavy expression as he spoke out. Zhou Yuan’s group possessed considerably frightening strength, and yet they had been so badly injured, and had even lost a teammate…

“Could this be the work of Xia Hou’s group?” Luo Li enquired, her brows knitted.

Tang Mei’er shook her head. “It shouldn’t be; otherwise, the two of them would already be at each other’s throats.” She knew of Zhou Yuan’s temper, and if this was really Xia Hou’s doing, the former would have already exploded in anger.

“So…”

Mu Chen’s expression froze. “Is it… that mysterious team that you crossed hands with?”

Tang Mei’er was startled for a moment. “I won’t rule out that possibility. That team was hiding in the shadows, and they had strange methods. To force Zhou Yuan and his team into such a situation isn't entirely impossible… However, why would they specifically target the strongest?”

“Perhaps it’s because we pose the greatest threat to them...”

Mu Chen scrunched his brows. “Seems like we have to be more careful. They are definitely not simple characters, like poisonous snakes hiding in the shadows...”

Luo Li and the others nodded in agreement. Being able to poison Tang Mei’er’s group and injure Zhou Yuan’s team to this extent, that mysterious team truly did possess some ability.

Mu Chen withdrew his gaze and looked to his front. This was the deepest part of the Dark Origin Forest, but there was only a strange Divine Spiritual Tree here… As for the supposed ancient remnant, they had yet to find even a single sign of its existence.

“What’s going on?” Mu Chen muttered to himself.

“Is that the Divine Spiritual Tree?!”

Just as Mu Chen was pondering to himself, the other teams in the area had finally identified the Divine Spiritual Tree. The eyes of many lit up, filling with greed and desire. In the next instant, more than a hundred figures had simultaneously shot out towards the Divine Spiritual Tree, with the intent to snatch its fruits.

Watching the scene unfold before him, Mu Chen simply kept his cool and watched from the side.