The Great Ruler (Web Novel)

When Mu Chen’s group charged into that freshly opened ancient palace, they were clearly able to sense ripples around in the space around them. Subsequently, their surroundings started to undergo huge changes.

They were in a humongous, dark-green hallway. Both sides of the hallway linked to one hall after another, and an ancient smell permeated the deathly silence.

Mu Chen’s group took in the scene in front of them, before looking at one another, seeing the heat in each other’s eyes. It seemed like this truly was an inheritance from the Ancient Antiquity, with an ancient air that no one would doubt.

“Everybody, let’s make good use of the time and search by ourselves.”

Mu Chen waved his hand and ordered.

“Haha, see you all later!” Lin Zhou took the initiative, laughing out loud as he decisively led his four teammates and shot off. Having arrived at the location of the ancient inheritance, the rewards that one would be able to reap would depend on one’s own strength.

“Then, we’ll make a move, too. If anything happens, just send a signal.” Tang Mei’er also didn’t hesitate, chuckling towards Mu Chen, before leading her team into another ancient hall.

Although they had a working relationship, when it came to searching for treasure, it was best to split up. If not, if the treasures couldn’t be split equally, it would actually cause problems.

“Let’s go.”

Seeing that the team was temporarily split up, Mu Chen immediately waved his hand, and his figure directly shot out.

Just as Mu Chen’s group was travelling into the deeper regions of this seemingly maze-like hallway, more and more teams appeared within this area. Once they appeared, they spread out like a swarm of locusts, and this ancient palace hall, silent for innumerable years, spontaneously became lively again.

Dong!

On the thick and heavy doors of a grand hall, many cracks suddenly started to appear. With a final bang, the doors exploded open.

Waving his arms, Mu Chen swept the dust away, before stepping into this grand hall. This hall wasn’t that spacious, with it’s area being slightly narrower than the halls from earlier on. However, it was evident that this hall, whether it’s appearance or arrangement, was more important than the other halls.

Earlier on, they had grasped the opportunity and charged ahead through several halls ahead of the other teams, but regretfully, they did not find anything worthwhile. This ancient inheritance had obviously been around for a very long time, and many treasures had been worn down and eroded by the passage of time, unable to last and only left ashes behind.

Luckily, this particular hall seemed somewhat different.

A dense smell of medicinal herbs emanated from this grand hall. It seemed that this was a place used to grow various medicines. On the ground, there were clear jade-like receptacles that had unknown mysterious plants growing in them. An intense Spiritual Energy was emitted from the plants, saturating the air around them.

Mu Chen was unable to identify any of the herbs, and from their appearances, these plants seemed to be in a state of slow growth, hence he simply glanced over them before dejectedly shaking his head. He did not have the desire to collect these herbs and spend large amounts of time and effort to grow them.

“Hmm?”

Mu Chen suddenly stopped in his tracks. Raising his head, he spotted a small tree several feet tall at the far end of the hall. The small tree was gently swaying, emitting a vigorous life force.

On that small tree, there seemed to be several emerald-green fruits, and there were strange light halos floating on the surface of these fruits.

Just as Mu Chen spotted the small, glowing tree, Xu Huang’s group had also discovered it. However, startled expressions immediately surfaced on their faces, and they even retreated a few steps. Wasn’t this thing what they had just seen earlier, the “Divine Spiritual Tree” that had almost taken their lives?

“No need to be so tense, it seems like this is the real deal.” Mu Chen’s gaze was tightly locked onto the tree, which seemed to have been sculpted from jade.

Upon hearing this, Xu Huang’s group breathed a sigh of relief, but their bodies remained tense.

Mu Chen slowly walked forward, and it was only when he neared the Divine Spiritual Tree that he was able to feel the boundless and pure Spiritual Energy emitted from the tree. Chuckling, he planned to snatch the five remaining Divine Spiritual Fruits on from the tree.

Boom!

However, just as his hand was about to touch the Divine Spiritual Tree, from the lingering fragrant mist in front of him, an extremely rampant gale suddenly swept forth, rumbling angrily towards Mu Chen like a mountain.

“Watch out!”

Luo Li was the first to detect it, and with a gentle exclamation, her delicate figure had already shot out. A palm stretched out, carrying an overflowing amount of Spiritual Energy, colliding violently with the withered palm extending from the mist.

Bang!

Violent gales swept forth, and Luo Li swiftly retreated. Within that fluctuating mist, there was actually a ten-foot tall wooden statue charging out. Its eyes glowed with a dark-green light, and its withered body was like a tree trunk, it was not wonder that even Mu Chen was unable to detect it hiding behind the Divine Spiritual Tree earlier on.

Glancing at the wooden statue, Mu Chen didn’t give it much thought. This must be some sort of puppet, and its strength was not bad, comparable to someone who survived the Human Body Disaster.

Roar!

However, the green glowing eyes of the wooden statue were locked onto Mu Chen, who was the closest to the Divine Spiritual Tree. A fist rumbled out, causing rampant gales to spread out.

Mu Chen gave an indifferent laugh, but did not show any intention of dodging. Suddenly clenching his fist, black arcs of lightning burst forth from the surface of his body, and lightning runes directly appeared on his chest. His fist rumbled out with an incomparably rampant force, colliding directly with the wooden statue.

Bang!

Rampant forces rippled out, forcing the Xu Huang trio to retreat more than a dozen steps. The withered wooden statue also trembled, sawdust sputtering out, before its huge body flew back.

Mu Chen’s body also vibrated, and he couldn’t help massaging his palm with a shocked gaze. The toughness of the wooden statue far exceeded his expectations, and most people who survived the Human Body Disaster would probably be unable to beat this wooden puppet.

Swish!

An incomparably sharp Sword Aura swept over as Luo Li’s delicate figure shot past. A ray of white light broke off from her hands and shot directly into the head of the wooden statue, penetrating through and sending a cloud of sawdust bursting out.

Groan!

The longsword penetrated through the head of the statue, before flying around and returning to Luo Li’s hands. The green light in the wooden statue’s eyes rapidly receded, and it toppled over on the ground, causing the entire hall to tremble.

Witnessing Mu Chen and Luo Li’s efficient coordination, the Xu Huang trio spontaneously grinned. What a frightening pair of lovers!

Mu Chen gently patted his hands, looking at the toppled wooden statue. This kind of puppet was difficult to deal with. Its defensive strength was extremely high, if not for Luo Li having the Luo Shen sword, even if the two of them were to join forces, they would have to spend much effort before being able to resolve this problem.

Mu Chen was stunned at the tyrannical strength of the wooden statue, before moving his attention back to the Divine Spiritual Tree. With a clench of his palm, he directly forced the five Divine Spiritual Fruits into his hand.

Like pieces of jade, the five Divine Spiritual fruits rested in his palm, emitting a boundless and pure Spiritual Energy.

“It seems that out luck isn’t bad at all.”

Chuckling, Mu Chen raised his head and looked at the Xu Huang trio, whose gazes were locked onto the Divine Spiritual Fruits in his hand. With a flick of his finger, three of the fruits landed in their hands.

“Store it it well, first. After we get out of this place, find a place to absorb and refine it, before trying to attempt the Human Body Disaster, and see whether you can successfully survive it.” Mu Chen laughed, if the Xu Huang trio was able to survive the Human Body Disaster, the overall ability of their team would no longer be inferior, and might actually exceed that of Xia Hou’s team.

The Xu Huang trio could not hide the emotions swirling in their eyes, nodding seriously in response. Although this Divine Spiritual Fruit could not give a perfect guarantee of them surviving the Human Body Disaster, it would at least protect them from harm. Even if they were to fail, they would be able to keep their lives.

Mu Chen passed one of the other fruits to Luo Li. Although she had the Spiritual Crystal from the Spiritual Mountain, for something like this, naturally, the more the merrier.

Grasping the last Divine Spiritual Fruit, Mu Chen felt the boundless and pure Spiritual Energy and a grave expression flashed past his eyes. He was currently at the peak of the Heavenly Completion Stage. If he consumed the fruit, he would probably reach the level of the Human Body Disaster. However, now wasn’t the right time to attempt it.

Mu Chen stored the Divine Spiritual Fruit, but his gaze couldn’t help returning to the Divine Spiritual Tree in front of him, and he grinned to himself. Although five Divine Spiritual Fruits were already quite rare, if one was to consider it's worth, the entire Divine Spiritual tree was obviously worth more.

The Divine Spiritual Tree in front of him had yet to mature. However, to some of the powerhouses, it was a peerless treasure, as it could endlessly produce Divine Spiritual Fruits.

Mu Chen obviously had no good reason to forgo such a priceless treasure. He directly grabbed the Divine Spiritual Tree, and was ready to forcefully uproot the tree and store it.

Swish!

However, just as Mu Chen was about to take the tree, many sharp winds suddenly sounded out as multiple figures shot out towards Mu Chen at a speed faster than the eye could track.

Swish! Swish!

Sharp Sword Qi immediately swept out from Luo Li, who was beside Mu Chen. Sword shadows howled out and landed with absolute precision on those numerous light figures.

Hmph!

The sword shadows flashed past, and the multiple light figures stuck into the ground in front of Mu Chen. They were actually incomparably sharp black tree branches. The tree branches were coated in a black liquid and as the liquid dripped onto the ground, even the ground started to rot. Evidently, it was some sort of poison.

“Who?!” The Xu Huang trio’s expression abruptly changed as they immediately shouted out.

Mu Chen raised his head, staring at the doors with a cold gaze. Over there, shadows shot past as five figures appeared like ghosts.

Those five figures were dressed in black robes. Pale young faces were half-hidden under those black robes.

“Hehe, someone has actually beat us to it.” The leader of the black-robed group chuckled.

Look at this, Mu Chen’s gaze slightly froze, before he softly commented, “You must be the group hiding in the shadows and ambushing the other teams, right? What’s this? Have you finally focused your attention on us?”