The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

"Garuda."

In the tranquil garden, Mu Chen looked solemn. The sharp radiance in his eyes surged as if he had met his biggest match. He lifted his head and looked at Mandela. "Who is he?"

The North Territory was constantly chaotic, and it was not a significant region among the many regions in the Tianluo Continent. The news about other regions was not as frequently updated. Hence, this was the first time Mu Chen had heard of this name.

"He is the Holy Son from the Saint Demon Palace of the South Region in the Tianluo Continent. Heh, Garuda is much more renowned than you are in the Tianluo Continent." With a teasing look, Mandela continued, "The South Region is bigger than our North Territory. Garuda has made tremendous contributions in expanding their territory by wiping out numerous sects and forces. Not only do the various forces in the South Region tremble upon seeing him, but even those forces around the region are wary of him.

"He's now a Grade Nine Sovereign. I heard that he wasn't afraid of the top powers at the peak of Grade Nine Sovereign when he was just a beginner in Grade Nine Sovereign. That's scary.

"Some of the nosy people even created a ranking chart for those young generations in the Tianluo Continent. Garuda was ranked third on it."

Mu Chen had a slightly shocked expression in his eyes. Ranking third place among the young generation in the Tianluo Continent was quite a thing. After all, the Tianluo Continent was a supercontinent in the Great Thousand World. It was not easy to stand out among those talented and skillful people.

Nine Nether suddenly smiled and asked, "How about Mu Chen's ranking?"

Mandela darted a look at Mu Chen. "No one seems to have counted him in yet."

Mu Chen was embarrassed when he heard this. The North Territory was not very significant in the Tianluo Continent. There was no overlord due to the endless disputes. Hence, no one would pay much attention to the North Territory. Moreover, he was always missing in action. His contributions were not flashy enough to attract any attention. Thus, it would not seem possible to have a ranking on the chart.

Nine Nether and Mandela knew this very well. However, they purposely put up a show to tease him. Mu Chen shook his head helplessly.

As powerful as Garuda was, he only ranked third among the young generation in the Tianluo Continent. From this, Mu Chen could tell how strong the young generation was. Those people he met in the Land of the Divine Beasts were not a match in comparison.

Despite this, Mu Chen also understood that those people he had met in the Land of the Divine Beasts might not be the top-notch players, even though they were the supreme talents from their various Divine Beasts clans. However, they were just not the best in terms of overall performance. Like Bai Ming, he did not seem to be the main supreme talent in the Phoenix Clan.

"How about Saint Demon Palace?" Mu Chen shook his head and changed the topic.

The smile on Mandela's pretty face seemed to have vanished. A cold radiance flashed in her golden eyes. She said indifferently, "Saint Demon Palace is the true overlord in the South Region. The master of the palace is Lu Yuan, commonly known as the Saint Demon King. He became an upper Earthly Sovereign a few years ago."

"Lu Yuan, the Saint Demon King? Do you have any grudges against him?" Mu Chen was stunned by the domineering nickname. As sensitive as he was, he sensed the change in Mandela's tone and had to ask.

The South Region and the North Territory were poles apart with numerous lands and districts in between. Even an Earthly Sovereign would require a long time to travel that kind of distance. How could both bear grudges against each other?

"We're old friends," said Mandela coldly. "He tricked me and planted that curse in my body back then."

Mu Chen's expression changed. The curse in Mandela's body had been torture for her. Previously, she fell into deep sleep for a long period of time because of it. If she had not met Mu Chen, she might still be sleeping even now. However, Mu Chen never thought that the curse had something to do with the Saint Demon King, Lu Yuan.

Mu Chen looked at Mandela's cold face and said helplessly, "It seems like we have some affinity. The Holy Son of the Saint Demon Palace would be my sworn enemy, and the Saint Demon King is your sworn enemy, too."

"Therefore, you must get the evolution method of the Great Solar Undying Body. It can never be in Garuda's hands!" said Mandela seriously.

Mu Chen nodded gently. His pitch-black eyes were determined, as he knew very well how important the evolution method was. He had been making plans for this throughout the years. Now, he finally saw a light at the end of the tunnel. Therefore, he would not give up easily. Regardless of the fame that Garuda had in the Tianluo Continent, Mu Chen would fight until the end as long as he dared to vie with him.

"Garuda might have information from Lu Yuan about the Super Power Hall and the Sky Pool that I mentioned to you. You just need to watch out."

Mu Chen nodded, but he had his doubts. "Since the Ancient Celestial Palace disappeared thousands of years ago, such news would be concealed. Why would you and Lu Yuan know about it so well?"

Mandela looked sombre when she heard this. She kept quiet for a moment before she finally said slowly, "Because both of us came from the Ancient Celestial Palace."

"What?" Both Mu Chen and Nine Nether stared hard at Mandela with looks of disbelief. She came from the Ancient Celestial Palace? Didn't all the people of the Ancient Celestial Palace perish along with the death of the Ancient Heavenly Emperor after the ancient grand war? How had Mandela and Lu Yuan managed to walk out of there?

The news must have been highly confidential. They bet no one knew about this in the entire Tianluo Continent. Otherwise, Mandela and Lu Yuan would not be enjoying their peace now.

"It's a complicated situation. I can't explain it. Those memories during that period are rather vague now. I only knew all this information based on bits and pieces from my memory." Mandela waved her little hand. She did not want to explain further.

Seeing that Mandela did not wish to continue, Mu Chen and Nine Nether had to suppress their shock and curiosity. Only now did they understand why Mandela had such insightful information regarding the Ancient Celestial Palace. She was from there herself.

"Who are the stronger forces that are eyeing the Ancient Celestial Palace this time?" Mu Chen asked, changing the topic once again.

"Those who can eye the Ancient Celestial Palace are all very strong." Mandela continued, "From the information that I got, the Saint Demon King from the South Region will surely be there. The Xia Dynasty from the East Region, the Antiquity Sect from the West Region, the Myriad Beasts King from the Grand Million Mountain, the lord from the Netherworld Stream, and more will be there, too.

"All these lords from the various forces possess the daunting strength of an Upper Earthly Sovereign. Their foundations are strong. Apart from that, other secluded top powers in the Tianluo Continent and the renowned people from outside of the Tianluo Continent who have heard about the news will be there as well."

Mu Chen was slightly shaken. The line-up was daunting. Most of the top-notch players in the entire Tianluo Continent would not be missing out on this. It would be truly destructive when the fights broke out.

"Will there be any Heavenly Sovereigns?" Mu Chen asked softly. Although at their level, any ordinary relic would not be attractive to them, the Ancient Celestial Palace was different. That was the place where the Heavenly Emperor perished. In those ancient days, the Heavenly Emperor was considered to be a top-notch player among the Heavenly Sovereigns. The skill he was practicing, Qi into Trinity, was one of the 36 volumes of Rare Super Power. Any Heavenly Sovereigns would be tempted by these rare arts.

Mandela pondered for a while and said, "According to the rumors, vast spiritual energy burst the space and created great amounts of turbulence in the space where the Ancient Celestial Palace was rediscovered. On top of this, the Ancient Celestial Palace is a creepy place. There were a lot of secret moves used during the destructive war between the Heavenly Emperor and the Demon Emperor from the Extraterritorial Race back then. These secret moves were threatening to the equally-powerful Heavenly Sovereigns. Hence, even though they might be tempted, I think they might not want to risk entering the palace."

Mu Chen felt relieved after hearing this. If those big shots at the level of Heavenly Sovereign made their moves, they would be out of the show. Despite the fact that the line-ups from the various forces seemed domineering, it was nothing in the eyes of any Heavenly Sovereign. Even so, the battle in the Ancient Celestial Palace would be the most competitive and aggressive the Tianluo Continent had seen in the last 1,000 years.

Mandela looked at Mu Chen with her golden eyes as she reminded him, "In the Ancient Celestial Palace, I will also be tied down. When it's time to vie for the evolution method of the Great Solar Undying Body, I will not be able to help. You have to depend on yourself. The only help I can offer is to stall those people such as Lu Yuan."

"That will suffice!" Mu Chen nodded and laughed. Apart from raising his status, the reason why he joined Daluotian Territory was for Mandela's promise today. He knew very well that, without any background or the help and support from an Upper Earthly Sovereign, he would not be able to take away the evolution method successfully, even if he got it by chance.

Mandela nodded her delicate chin. With a flick of her finger, a beam of golden light headed towards Mu Chen. Mu Chen received it in his palm. It was an ancient golden scroll. He gave it a quick look. His expression could not help but freeze slightly as he sensed a familiar fluctuation from it. It was the Spiritual Array.

"Is this the Heavenly Grade High Ranked Spiritual Array?" Mu Chen looked at Mandela in shock.

"Your skill level with Spiritual Arrays is getting better, and such a high-ranking Spiritual Diagram Array is becoming rare. I started collecting them quite some time ago, but I only managed to get one scroll," said Mandela indifferently.

"Although you're now a half-step to Grade Nine Sovereign, the opponents you are meeting this time will be those top powers of the young generations from the entire Tianluo Continent. They are not any ordinary characters like those in our North Territory. Hence, you need to be more prepared."

Mu Chen slowly clenched the golden scroll. He looked at Mandela and nodded formally. "Thank you."

He could sense the effort from Mandela. She must have done her best to help him. If she had not searched the entire Tianluo Continent, it would have been difficult to find a diagram array at such a ranking.

Mandela did not make a big deal about it as she waved her hand softly and left. While she was walking away, her voice slowly resounded. "Prepare yourself during this period. We will be making our way to the Ancient Celestial Palace relic in half a month!"

Mu Chen looked at her disappearing figure. His hands were tightly clenched. Blazing fighting desire was burning in his pitch-black eyes. Although he was going to face the young top powers from the Tianluo Continent, it was impossible for Mu Chen to concede defeat. Let us have a fierce battle and see who the final winner will be.

Mu Chen wet his lips. Somehow, he had high expectations of the upcoming battle in the Ancient Celestial Palace.