The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

Four specter-like shadows quickly and violently flashed through the forest. Their expressions were like those of wolves, fixed upon their target that was a short distance ahead — a lone figure fleeing in a sorry state.

“Let’s see how far you can run!”

The hearts of those four were filled with the sounds of cold laughter as they abruptly increased their speeds. They noticed that their target had started showing frantic movements and clumsier steps — likely out of dread for the inevitable.

If you couldn’t preserve a clear mind under such a brutal pursuit, then the consequences went without saying.

A cruel light passed through the eyes of the four shadows. These Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy students were quite gifted; but, unfortunately for them, talents were useless in life-or-death exchanges. The most important factors that determined the outcome of a life-or-death struggle were merciless needs to kill and keen senses.

Rustle!

Disdain flashed through their hearts as they watched the pitiful figure turn a corner and disappeared from their sights. They immediately followed.

Their figures flew over a cluster of trees.

When they passed through that patch of forest, the shadows from the dense branches and leaves dispersed from their eyes. In that moment, a shadow pounced on them, entering the embrace of one of the four.

The four shadows’ expressions changed at the sudden event. The shadow that’d collided with their comrade was still for a moment, before it sharply snarled. Their comrade reflexively aimed his black spear towards the person in his arms.

Shiiiiing!

But the instant the spear thrust forward, a sharp longsword mercilessly pierced his heart with a majestic Spiritual Energy. The sword tip penetrated through his back and fresh blood poured down.

The shadow widened his eyes in disbelief at the cold-eyed youth in his embrace. The boy’s expression was exceptionally frigid, as though it’d been crafted from ice.

Never, in his wildest imaginations, would he consider this turn of events; the youth who’d only been running from their pursuit had suddenly turned back. The unexpected surprise had broken all of their guards.

Furthermore, this youth’s ruthlessness surpassed their own. He’d instantly penetrated the shadow’s vitals, severing his life.

“He did that on purpose!”

The shadow’s vision gradually turned black, with the youth’s indifferent expression as his last living memory. Just a short while ago, this youth had been panicking under their pursuit. But how was that expression from someone that was panicking from running?

So, this youth had been putting up a façade, and made the experienced experts lower their guards. Then, he’d launched his counterattack!

Neat and tidy, without the slightest hint of sloppiness.

“You…!”

Everything happened in an instant. By the time the other three shadows realized what’d happened, Mu Chen’s blade had already run itself through their comrade’s heart.

The three of them glared with dark eyes filled with rage. The spears in their hands turned into sharp attacks, enveloping Mu Chen with threats to his vitals. This brat actually dared to kill one of their comrades right before their eyes. How could they possibly let him escape?

Mu Chen faced the three’s attacks and pulled out his longsword with a flick of his wrist. His Spiritual Energy circulated. Cyan light glinted off the longsword as he burst forward with a razor-sharp sword energy and light, resisting the numerous spear images.

Shhhuuuuu!

The three of them were well coordinated. A few rays of cold light still managed to break through Mu Chen’s defense and flew towards his chest.

Mu Chen dragged the corpse of the shadow that he’d killed back into his arms, and used it as a meat shield.

Chhhhhhh!

The sharp spears pierced through the dead shadow with a majestic Spiritual Energy. The tips of the spears drew thin lines of blood on Mu Chen’s chest.

Mu Chen’s eyes were cold as he stepped forward. The corpse was heavily tossed to the side, sailing into that black shadow.

A dark malevolence showed itself in the eyes of that shadow.He threw out a fist, which impacted with the flying corpse. A surge of violent Spiritual Energy erupted, badly mutilating the body.

Chhhhhhh!

But the moment the fist struck the corpse and tore it to pieces, cold rays of light flicker within the corpse’s chest. The tip of a sword, wrapped in black-coloured Spiritual Energy with black flames throbbing of it tunneled through the corpse’s chest and thrust towards the black shadow with lightning speed.

The offence was too quick, violent, and sharp — so much so that even the black shadow was taken by surprise. That shadow threw out a punch as his Spiritual Energy surged as one could even hear the roar of a dragon within it. The majestic Spiritual Energy had turned into spiritual fist with the shape of a raging dragon and collided with the sharp light that burned with black flames.

BANG!

Black flames swept out as the two heavily collided, quickly igniting the violent gale of Spiritual Energy wrapped around the fist.

Rustle!

The sword light pierced the gale and swung down on the black shadow’s wrist as he watched with a shocked expression.

Sword light flashed. Blood splattered. Blood flowed from the places where the five fingers had been severed.

Mu Chen cultivated quite a tyrannical Spiritual Energy. By adding the Middle Rank Spiritual Artifact that Su Ling’er had given him, his offense definitely wasn’t something that an ordinary person could withstand.

“Arghhhhhh!”

The black shadow miserably shrieked, mercilessly thrusting the spear in his left hand towards Mu Chen’s throat. He was trying to take Mu Chen down with him.

Ding!

But since Mu Chen had already gained the advantage during that exchange, he wasn’t willing to risk getting a heavy injury. With a flick of his hand, the longsword flew back. His fingers clamped over the cutting edge of the sword and slanted the blade to the side, just so that it managed to block the spear.

Sparks flew.

Mu Chen borrowed the force of the impact and let himself fly out, gaining distance. He entered the forest like a bat into the night, disappearing in the blink of an eye. “Damned brat!”

The three shadows looked at the cold corpse in front of them, their eyes were filled with rage. The four of them were Heavenly Fusion Stage Late Phase experts, and had a rich amount of experience under their belts. They never imagined that this barely Heavenly Fusion Stage brat could reverse the situation and put them in such a miserable position.

Not only had they lost a member, but one of the remaining shadows had also lost a hand. Their fighting strength had declined!

“We can’t forgive him!”

The three of them snarled, especially the black shadow that’d lost his hand to Mu Chen. His eyes turned sinister.

The three of them exchanged looks, then flew out at the same time. But this time, their bodies were tense as they circulated their Spiritual Energies to their limits. They were expecting an attack at any moment as they advanced.

That lightning exchange earlier had forced them to understand that even though this youth may be young, he wasn’t the gentle type. Not only did he have vicious eyes, even his offense was fierce. His actions were direct and straightforward, without the slightest bit of sloppiness. He was definitely different from the other Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy students, who were usually low on experience in terms of fighting and killing.

If they still had any contempt for him in their hearts, then they’d probably suffer a defeat tonight.

Mu Chen flashed through the forest, lightly wiping traces of blood from his chest. It was just a flesh wound, nothing much. His reversal of the earlier situation had been extremely successful. It looked like his previous acting had produced quite an effect.

Mu Chen glanced behind himself. Those three should be acting much more cautious now. But that also meant that they’d slow down their chase, providing him with a little more time.

“Now, let's see who’s the true hunter.”

Mu Chen muttered as he observed the forest before him. He could vaguely make out the scarlet pupils of several beasts. Those must be the Spiritual Beasts of the White Dragon Hillock.

He watched the scarlet eyes of the beasts residing in the depths of forest, and the corner of his mouth rose into the trace of a smile. He didn’t avoid the area; on the contrary, he changed directions and headed towards them.

Night enveloped the forest as three shadows rapidly flashed through it. One in front, while two followed behind — a triangle formation. Their tensed bodies overflowed with Spiritual Energy as they cautiously kept an eye on their surroundings.

“Mm?”

As the three of them moved along, their eyes were suddenly drawn to something. The one in front waved his palm and the three of them landed on a clear patch of ground. Some distance away were two beast corpses that were spilling fresh blood. It was clear that they’d been recently killed.

“Must be the brat.”

The black shadow who’d lost his fingers to Mu Chen clenched his teeth and said, “It looks like he was surrounded by Spiritual Beasts. That means he’s probably slowed down his pace. We must make use of the opportunity.”

“En.”

The other two nodded. Then, the three figures flashed away, resuming their chase.

Over the next few minutes, they saw a series of freshly-killed beast corpses. Among the corpses were shreds of cloth — Mu Chen’s clothes.

Based on these signs, Mu Chen must have encountered more and more Spiritual Beasts. Furthermore, he’d also sensed that the three shadows were already nipping at his heels. The signs showed that he’d quickened his pace a little, so much so that he couldn’t afford to clean up the traces of the battles.

After giving chase for another ten minutes, the three shadows stopped, once again, in a clearing. On the ground before them was the corpse of a large golden lion. The Spiritual Beast was clearly dead, with a cyan longsword thoroughly impaled in its large, sinister maw.

“This belongs to the brat.”

The three of them stopped next to the huge lion corpse and studied the familiar longsword.

One shadow coldly smiled. “This kid’s luck is so bad. He actually ran into a Gold Flame Lion. This beast is as strong as a Heavenly Fusion Stage Middle Phase. Even we’d have to waste a bit of effort to deal with it. No wonder he decided to discard his Spiritual Artifact.”

“Roar!”

Suddenly, a deep and low roar resounded from deeper within the forest. Vaguely, ripples of Spiritual Energy were carried over.

“He’s encountered another one. Quick, we’ll be able to catch up to him this time!” The three of them delightedly exclaimed as they heard the sounds.

“En!”

The three of them nodded. Two of the three were about to give chase, while the last one took two steps over to the corpse to grab the cyan longsword. This was a Middle Rank Spiritual Artifact, a powerful object. It’d be a pity if they left it here.

Bang!

As his fingers closed around the sword’s hilt, intending to pull it from the Gold Flame Lion’s corpse, in that moment, the corpse exploded. Fresh blood splattered about as a bloodied figure charged out from the fleshy remains. The figure curved two fingers. A gold light rushed forward, bringing an extremely sharp ripple with it. The black shadow watched with a startled expression as it went through his throat.

The black shadow trembled and fell to the ground, his widened eyes filled with disbelief.

The blood-covered figure lowered his head and retrieved the longsword. He slowly raised his head and looked to the figure that’d already stopped moving, then turned around to find the other two shadows watching him in utter shock.

Mu Chen wiped the fresh blood from his face and lightly smiled at the two remaining shadows. From the perspective of the two shadows, that smile was as frightening as a demon’s.

They’d been acting so cautiously, but they’d still fallen for the brat’s scheme!

His methods were simply impossible to defend against!

“Now, it’s your turn.”

Mu Chen lightly rapped on the sword blade, making clear and crisp sounds as he did so. He’d already killed two out of the four. The ones left were one crippled, and one whole expert. But their formation itself had been crippled, as well, and it was no longer strong enough to force him to run.