The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

Within the crimson magma, Spiritual Blazing Serpents slithered swiftly, stirring up streams of lava whirlpools. Hissing sounds could constantly be heard, unsettling people and making their scalps tingle in fear. 

Under the circumstances, even with Mu Chen's focus, he could not help but look a little stiff. Judging from their size, most of the Spiritual Blazing Serpents were far from a century old, but even the remaining handful could not be underestimated.

Despite his seemingly effortless hunting and killing of a 100-year-old Spiritual Blazing Serpent previously, that was due to him completely exerting the full power of his Great Solar Undying Body.

Now, in the face of such a large number of Spiritual Blazing Serpents, even if he possessed the Great Solar Undying Body, it would prove to be extremely daunting.

"Isn't this a little too difficult?" Mu Chen smiled stiffly. He was confident, but not arrogant. He did not believe that he could easily deal with so many Spiritual Blazing Serpents by himself.

After all, these creatures were not made out of clay.

"The Dominator says you have only three months to practice here, so if you really want to challenge the Nine-Nine Flaming Dragon Array in three months' time, you have to practice it this way." Bing Xin crossed her arms in front of her chest, and the soft fabric accentuated her curves. A teasing smile was on her face as she stared at Mu Chen.

"Of course, this is just a suggestion. You are the one who will make the choice."

The corner of Mu Chen's mouth twitched a little, and at this point, did he still have room to refuse?

Upon seeing Mu Chen's exasperated expression, Bing Xin smiled and said, "Alright, you can cultivate here. In the meantime, you can come to me if you meet with any problems."

After speaking, she turned and in a few breaths time, disappeared from Mu Chen's field of vision, leaving him standing there alone. He stared speechlessly at the scorching hot sea of magma. 

Mu Chen smiled bitterly as he regained his composure. It was not his personality to grumble and complain, and since he was already there, no matter how torturous the cultivation process would be, he would persevere.

Phew.

Mu Chen took a deep breath of boiling hot air. The air went into his lungs like a flame, giving him a burning sensation. The burning pain began to cause his black eyes to turn sharp. 

Mu Chen gazed at the crimson magma, and after a brief observation, he saw that there were many Spiritual Blazing Serpents in the lava. However, the distribution was not regular. There was an area where they were dense, and in some places, they were much less so.

With Mu Chen's current capability, it should be no problem dealing with Spiritual Blazing Serpents that were 200 to 300 years old, but once there were too many, he would be exhausted. Thus, before adapting to this location completely, he should start slowly, before delving in… 

At this point, Mu Chen no longer hesitated. With a tap of his toes, his figure appeared like a specter in another corner of the magma. He hovered about ten feet in the air, then stepped cautiously above the sea of lava.

Hiss!

Just as Mu Chen had stepped into the magma, a dozen Spiritual Blazing Serpents slithering in the lava were immediately aware of his invasion. Immediately, the magma burst, directly turning into a huge lava rainbow, charging swiftly towards Mu Chen as fast as lightning. Its ferocious fangs were like flowing, burning lava, possessing a deadly force.

Mu Chen's expression remained calm as his body quickly manifested into its thundering form, and nine lightning runes emerged on his chest. Imprints of fists suddenly flashed out, and as thunder rumbled, ten beams of thunder and lightning swept out harshly, colliding head-on with the dozen serpents.

Boom!

The dozen Spiritual Blazing Serpents were far less powerful than the one that Mu Chen hunted before, and they were only a few decades old. Thus, their attacks did not seem to have much effect in Mu Chen's eyes. When the thunder swept out, these serpents exploded into bits of magma.

With a blow of his palm, a dozen Spiritual Blazing Marrows surged and were collected by him. His expression then turned solemn, as the fluctuations had spread, and beams of lava torrents flowed on the surface of the sea of magma. Under the torrents, ferocious Spiritual Blazing Serpents slithered menacingly. 

Many of them were massive, and it was clear that they were at least a century old.

Crash! 

Huge waves of magma rose into the sky, and the shrill hisses spread as the beams of fiery magma light penetrated the space and poured out towards Mu Chen.

In the face of this scale of attack, Mu Chen dared not have the slightest lapse in concentration. Focusing, he summoned the Great Solar Undying Body, and as it condensed, golden light surged as magma light beams bombarded the huge body.

Whoosh. 

Although the attacks from the serpents were violent, the Great Solar Undying Body was not only astonishing in its defense, but also possessed the strength of the Daluo Golden Body, so the attacks only left scorch marks on the surface of the massive body.

At this time, the Great Solar Undying Body began the massacre. With a blow of a massive golden light palm, it directly penetrated the magma, grabbed the ferocious serpents, and squeezed them until they exploded.

Boom! 

Under the Great Solar Undying Body, the sea of magma rolled in a tumultuous frenzy. As the waves rioted, hissing screams permeated the surroundings.

After summoning the Great Solar Undying Body, Mu Chen could easily kill the serpents that were merely a few decades old. Only the massive century-old serpents that could match a Third Grade Sovereign were left that were capable of resisting his attacks. 

However, although these serpents were not intelligent, they had a geographical advantage and the advantage of being large in quantity, so that when the endless offensive attacks bombarded the Great Solar Undying Body, Mu Chen could also detect the rapid depletion of spiritual energy in his body.

Even the dazzling golden light surrounding the Great Solar Undying Body was gradually becoming dimmer.

Boom! 

The massive palm of the Great Solar Undying Body penetrated directly into the magma as it grabbed a century-old Spiritual Blazing Serpent and tore it apart with a rip of his palms.

A crimson Spiritual Blazing Marrow flew out as Mu Chen, who was hiding within the Great Solar Undying Body, promptly collected it.

In just four hours, he had killed five century-old Spiritual Blazing Serpents and more than a dozen decades-old serpents.

Of course, the price to pay for such battle results was that the light of the Great Solar Undying Body began to gradually dim due to the extensive consumption of spiritual energy. Such a never-ending battle had exhausted Mu Chen's spiritual energy even more than the fierce duel between him and Qin Bei had.

However, Mu Chen did not dare to relax even in the slightest. He had to keep his spiritual energy running unreservedly, or he would lose utterly if his weak points were detected by the ferocious serpents. 

Now the weaker serpents did not dare to come too close. Thus, most of the attacks on Mu Chen were from those that were at least a century old, and sometimes he even had to deal with more than eight serpents attacking him simultaneously.

The high intensity of the battle resulted in an exhaustion of spiritual energy that was gradually overwhelming Mu Chen.

Within the Great Solar Undying Body, Mu Chen's face was pale. At the current rate of consumption, the spiritual energy in his Sovereign Sea would be completely exhausted within an hour.

Under normal circumstances, when spiritual energy was consumed to this extent, the strategy was to get out of battle as soon as possible, find a quiet place to regain one's powers, and then continue fighting. 

However, Mu Chen's dark eyes grew more and more scorching, and he did not seem to have any intention of retreating, for he could feel that the spiritual energy of his body was becoming unusually active.

Constant fighting, constant consumption of spiritual energy—this was the most energetic manifestation of spiritual energy.

The more one felt he was at its limit, the more one could not retreat!

As soon as he clenched his fist, he saw red balls of light suspended in front of him, all the Spiritual Blazing Marrows that he had acquired. He stared at them and without any hesitation, opened his mouth and swallowed them. 

Cultivating and refining the Spiritual Blazing Marrows would bring a scorching pain to one's body as if being burned by fiery flames, thus people would find a quiet place to cultivate it under normal circumstances. People like Mu Chen, who dared to cultivate it directly in a battle, were few and far between. 

Boom!

Just as Mu Chen absorbed the Spiritual Blazing Marrows into his body, his face and entire body flushed red as if he were burning up. 

Spiritual energy as hot as magma flowed wildly through his meridians. Excruciating pain burned the meridians, causing Mu Chen's face to twist in distortion. He clenched his teeth, and streaks of blood seeped through them, but he had no intention of stopping. 

While summoning the Great Pagoda Art to cultivate and refine the scorching magma-like spiritual energy in his body, Mu Chen controlled the Great Solar Undying Body to avoid the fierce attacks.

Blood spurted out from his mouth, but he smirked as the heat in his eyes grew more and more intense.

He was wild and persistent, for he felt a majestic and vast spiritual power developing in his body.

At the same time Mu Chen fell into the endless struggle, on that stone platform there was a light screen displaying the scene as the Great Solar Undying Body dimmed and fell into a frail struggle.

Bing Xin, Tie Shan, and the other Commanders, as well as the soldiers of Daluo Celestial Army, looked up at Mu Chen, who was engaged in a bitter battle, as their mouths curled.

"What a reckless fellow. Judging from the scenario, I'll have to save him later. He truly doesn't know the gravity of the situation, and is still not retreating at this point in time," Bing Xin stated in displeasure. Originally, Mu Chen could have had sufficient spiritual energy to rush out of this encirclement, but he did not retreat. Now, he was entangled by more Spiritual Blazing Serpents. According to the circumstances, there was only one fate awaiting Mu Chen. When he had exhausted his spiritual energy, he would be torn to pieces by the serpents. 

The other three Commanders nodded in agreement as they thought, this Mu Chen did not seem like the reckless kind... Why would he commit such rash actions?

Bing Xin glanced at the Spiritual Energy Screen once again as she shook her head in disappointment and was about to make a move. However, just as she took a step, low gasps of astonishment spread amid the onlookers on the stone platform.

She lifted her head abruptly before narrowing her cold eyes.

In the encirclement of the Spiritual Blazing Serpents, the Great Solar Undying Body, which had lost its glow, suddenly burst with dazzling light, shining brilliantly.

An even more magnificent wave of spiritual energy erupted like a volcano in that massive body.