The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

Inside the fiery volcano, the red magma bubbled, releasing a terrifyingly high temperature. The gazes of the Daluo Celestial Army looked a little surprised, as they stared in unison at the young figure on the stone platform.

The rank of a Second Grade Sovereign was not at the very top in the Daluo Celestial Army, but even within their army, a top warrior with the rank of a Third Grade Sovereign would find it difficult to kill a century-old Spiritual Blazing Serpent so effortlessly, let alone a Second Grade Sovereign! The man who had been brought by the Dominator did possess some ability after all. 

Many gazes flickered, but some of the teasing mirth in their eyes had diminished. The Daluo Celestial Army was the most powerful army in the Daluo Territory. All of their entrants were chosen after many trials, which shows they took extreme pride in their prowess, too.

Although Mandela was the Dominator, it was impossible to force them to accept a useless person among their ranks willingly. But now, Mu Chen had proven his own capability, making them finally understand what attitude they should treat him with: one of respect!

"Heh heh, he has great strength." Among the four Commanders, a strong, tall man looked at Mu Chen with amazement in his eyes, a smile on his face.

He was the second commander of the Daluo Celestial Army's Five Commanders, Commander Tie Shan. He had reached the pinnacle power of a Fifth Grade Sovereign. With his words, even the frosty Commander Bing Xin could not say anything to refute, for she was also astonished by the strength of Mu Chen. 

"Don't underestimate him. In the Battle of Conquest, he's the one who defeated Qin Bei from Sorrowful Sky." Mandela remarked nonchalantly.

"Oh?"

The four Commanders were slightly shocked, as they had definitely heard Qin Bei's name, but did not expect him to have lost to the young man before them.

"Looks like there's finally a worthy commander amid the young commanders in the Daluo Territory." Bing Xin looked at Mu Chen, her words seeming to show her disdain towards the supposed Four Great Commanders in the Daluo Territory.

However, she was qualified to show this disdain. After all, Xu Qing's ability as a Third Grade Sovereign was nothing in the eyes of Bing Xin, who was a Fifth Grade Sovereign.

Mandela's golden eyes looked towards Mu Chen. She then said, "For the next three months, you will stay here to practice. After three months, if you want to leave, you will have to overcome the Nine-Nine Flaming Dragon Array that I have laid out in this Daluo Blazing Pool. And, you must do this alone." If you fail to break through it, don't even think of coming out. I'll send someone else for the experience of the Dragon-Phoenix Rift."

"Nine-Nine Flaming Dragon Array?" Mu Chen froze, glancing at Bing Xin and the other commanders. He could see clearly that they, too, were shocked, as they stared at him with pity and doubt in their eyes.

"What's that?" Mu Chen could sense that it was not something good, but he could only grit his teeth and ask.

"That was an obstacle trial that the Dominator had personally set up. Generally speaking, if anyone in the army could overcome it alone, he or she would be qualified to be promoted to the role of Commander. However, only a handful of people have been able to break through it over the years." Bing Xin pursed her red lips, seeming to be gloating a little.

The corners of Mu Chen's mouth could not help but twitch, his thoughts starting to swirl in his mind...

So, this was the trial to select the Commanders of Daluo Celestial Army. According to his estimate, this so-called "Nine-Nine Flaming Dragon Array" was probably difficult to overcome, even by Fourth Grade Sovereigns. However, Mandela set this as a condition for him to leave, which seemed extremely harsh…

Even if there had not been any conflict between him and Mandela, Mu Chen would have still wondered if she was deliberately trying to toy with him.

"What? You don't dare?" Mandela's big golden eyes stared at Mu Chen. She then said meaningfully, "If you don't have the courage and confidence, then later, when you meet some of your competitors, I can hardly believe that you could have any chance of winning."

Mu Chen froze. As he looked at Mandela, he understood the hidden implications in her words. She had once told him that there might be other talented people in the world, who had also gained great opportunities to practice the Great Solar Undying Body. However, there was only one Primordial Immortal Body in the world, and if he wanted to succeed in the end, he would naturally clash with another opponent, who also had the same chance...

Mu Chen could only imagine how terrifying that kind of opponent would be, which was definitely unlike the kind of relatively easy competition he had met so far. Under the gaze of Mandela's golden eyes, Mu Chen nodded gently.

In this world, power was not so easy to obtain, and if one wanted to achieve something, they naturally had to give up something in exchange. Ordinary people could only see the dazzling trajectory of his take-off, but they never knew the hardships and training he had undergone in order to achieve those brilliant performances.

When the four Commanders, including Tie Shan and Bing Xin, saw that Mu Chen dared to agree, they couldn't help but be even more surprised. However, their eyes held a more relaxed gaze now, as they were also more than a little impressed by Mu Chen's courage. After all, not many people had the courage to rush into the "Nine-Nine Flaming Dragon Array"!

Mandela nodded contentedly, a rare smile appearing on her little face. "I'll wait for your good news then," she said. "These commanders will tell you how to practice."

As she finished speaking, she vanished in a flash. Her speed astonished Mu Chen and the other commanders, who all looked on in envy. They seemed as vulnerable as infants, standing in front of a Sovereign and the Earthly Sovereign.

Upon seeing Mandela leave, Mu Chen then turned towards Tie Shan, Bing Xin, and the other commanders. Clasping his fists in respect, he said, "In the next three months, I will have to trouble the four commanders."

Tie Shan smiled and waved his hand. Although he looked as strong as an iron tower, he was not stupid. It could clearly be seen via the tone Mandela and Mu Chen used in conversation that the two obviously shared a relationship that was not merely one between a high and mighty Dominator and a small Commander. Hence, he did not dare be too casual towards Mu Chen.

"Regarding the cultivation in the Daluo Blazing Pool, let Bing Xin explain to you in detail. If there is any problem, you can come to us at any time." Tie Shan smiled at Mu Chen, then at Bing Xin. The remaining three of them returned to the surrounding stone platforms to test the practice of the Daluo Celestial Army.

Bing Xin looked at Mu Chen with a cold stare. "I don't know what the relationship between you and the Dominator is, but since she placed you here, I will set the same requirements for you. Thus, you must adhere to the strict rules of the Daluo Celestial Army!"

Mu Chen smiled and nodded.

"How should I begin?" Mu Chen had no intention of bantering with the cold, beautiful lady and asked directly.

"I had intended to make you train like the other warriors of the Daluo Celestial Army, practicing on this platform. But, since you have the ability to deal with the Spiritual Blazing Serpent alone, then I will lead you to the deeper depths of the Daluo Blazing Pool, where you will continue to hunt down more Spiritual Blazing Serpents, obtain the Spiritual Blazing Marrows, and speed up your cultivation progress," Bing Xin said.

"In addition, the temperature inside the Daluo Blazing Pool is quite high. Hence, with your strength, you can only enter a thousand feet deep. If you reach deeper depths, you would hit your limit. Also, there are even more powerful Spiritual Blazing Serpents in there, which you are unable to handle with your current ability."

"There's even more powerful ones?" Mu Chen was shocked. This Daluo Blazing Pool was no benevolent place indeed!

"The Spiritual Blazing Serpent that you hunted before is only a hundred years old. The longer its life span, the more powerful it will be. This life span can be distinguished from the size of the Serpent, but the more powerful Serpents are known to be in the deep depths of the Daluo Blazing Pool," she said. "As long as you don't trespass, you shouldn't encounter them." Although Bing Xin was cold, she gave a detailed explanation to thoroughly answer all of Mu Chen's queries.

"Is it true that the more powerful the Spiritual Blazing Serpent is, the larger and purer the Spiritual Blazing Marrow is within the body?" Mu Chen smacked his lips.

The Spiritual Blazing Marrow that he had previously refined was only a century-old. If it were older, the effects of cultivation would have been better.

Bing Xin could not help but roll her eyes at Mu Chen. She thought that this guy was not very old, but his disposition was so arrogant! After all, of course everyone wanted to obtain a Spiritual Blazing Marrow in the body of a Spiritual Blazing Serpent that lived more than 500 years, or even thousands of years. However, one also needed to have a certain degree of skill before being able to do so!

Mu Chen could only laugh dryly at Bing Xin's obvious eye roll.

"Follow me. Since you are so confident, I'll take you to a good harvest." Bing Xin smirked, as she led Mu Chen to the deep depths of the Daluo Blazing Pool. Mu Chen hurriedly tried to keep up.

While they made their way, two streams of light skimmed over the abyss. As he got closer to the Daluo Blazing Pool, the temperature became more and more horrifying. Even with his strong physique, Mu Chen felt a faint tingling pain, which shocked him. After all, he had not yet even entered the Daluo Blazing Pool…

In the depths of the Daluo Blazing Pool, Mu Chen sensed the vastness of it. It was almost an entire sea of underground magma, the abyss around having been melted out like a complex terrain by the lava. The huge cavern had strange formations, like an elaborate labyrinth.

Mu Chen followed Bing Xin through the huge caverns. Then, after nearly ten minutes, the speed of Bing Xin finally slowed down. 

Mu Chen also poked out his head from behind her. What he saw made his pupils shrink suddenly.

In front of him, there was still a sea of red magma, but on the sea of magma, the Spiritual Blazing Serpents were slithering and gliding, creating huge magma swirls.

Shrill hisses rang out from time to time. Roughly estimating, there were at least a hundred Spiritual Blazing Serpents. This vast quantity caused even Mu Chen's scalp to tingle in dread.

A smile appeared on the cold face of Bing Xin. She looked at Mu Chen, her slender hand gently waving an introduction. She smiled, saying, "Welcome to the Daluo Blazing Pool, Hell mode."