The Great Ruler

Chapter 238 - Emergence of the Spirit Treasury

Mu Chen's party wore bitter-cold expressions. A surprising amount of Spiritual Energy surged from Su Xuan, Guo Xiong, and Li Qing; it was clear that they'd decided to act, too.

The expressions of the two leaders changed when they saw that and they scrutinized Mu Chen and Su Xuan. Looks of fear flashed through their eyes.

Su Xuan was far stronger than they were. If it came down to a fight, they probably wouldn't be able to win, even if they teamed up against her. Then, there was the youth who looked gentle on the surface, but was ruthless underneath. They'd probably have to pay a huge price for fighting him, too.

On top of that, the Spirit Treasury was due to appear soon. It'd be unwise for them to exhaust their strength here and now.

If they wanted to take back their pride, they'd have to wait until they could ally with another powerful adventurer party.

The two leaders of the Lion Tiger Regiment exchanged gloomy looks as they rumbled in deep tones, "It's a small world. Our Lion Tiger Regiment won't leave it like this."

"Let's go!"

The two of them signaled a retreat to the other Lion Tiger Regiment members, who were boiling with resentful auras. Soon after, their party quickly disappeared from view.

Su Ling'er snorted as she watched the party leave, then she turned back to face Mu Chen and smiled. "I didn't know you could be so dashing when you're angry."

Mu Chen showed her a smile and a shrug. Behind him, Su Xuan clutched the ancient jade pearl as she also looked at him. "You are truly deserving of your title as the 'Blood Calamity of the Spiritual Road'."

Those words told Mu Chen that she knew something about his background, but he wasn't terribly surprised about it. It's obvious she'd conducted a background check before she asked him to join her party.

"Let's move on. It looks like we'll be able to enter the depths of the White Dragon Hillock soon." Mu Chen stated as he looked ahead, though he stopped at that. It was obvious that he was interested in the rumored Sovereign Spirit Treasury.

Su Xuan nodded, then moved and flitted away.

They didn't meet any major obstacles for the rest of their journey. There was one powerful Spiritual Beast, but Mu Chen had killed it faster than was thought possible. Roughly half an hour later, they entered the deepest area of the mountains.

Clouds and mist swirled around the towering peak that rose to meet the heavens. A huge waterfall torrented downwards, its rumbles echoing throughout the mountains.

Mu Chen's party skimmed up the green slopes as they kept an eye on their surroundings. The nearby hills and plains were dotted with countless shapes of people, while even more were flying in from the distance. The entire landscape looked like it was a majestic portrait.

"So, there were this many people." Guo Xiong couldn't help smacking his lips It looked like every expert and decently sized force within a thousand miles of the White Dragon Hillock had deigned it necessary to rush to this particular location. The attractiveness of a Sovereign Spirit Treasury was truly worth its name.

"It's said that this is where the White Dragon Sovereign fell."

Su Xuan pointed ahead with a slender finger towards five majestic peaks in the distance. A waterfall flowed like the Milky Way down from each of the five peaks and into a large lake at the foot of the mountains. The lake was as clear as a mirror as it changed its colors to reflect the vibrancy of the peaks that surrounded it.

"Mhm?" Mu Chen raised a curious eyebrow towards the lake, but he couldn't detect anything unusual from its surface.

Su Xuan lightly smiled. "You won't be able to see it. Who knows how many experts have explored the area in the past few hundred years? None of them managed to find anything. From the looks of it, it's still not time yet. If that expert, who had reached such heights, wanted to conceal this Spirit Treasury from others, then it won't be easy to find."

Mu Chen nodded. That was an existence powerful enough to become the overlord of an entire continent. His very name intimidated others everywhere and he'd commanded millions of people. Obviously, his Spirit Treasury wouldn't be easy to find.

"For now, we'll just have to wait until the Spirit Treasury appears. I'm guessing that it should be soon." Su Xuan's charming eyes scanned the five towering mountains.

The party quietly sat themselves down on the green slope to wait. As time passed by, the number of experts in the area slowly swelled, making this part of the White Dragon Hillock more lively than ever.

Shhhhuuu!

Mu Chen silently sat on the mountain's peak as he scanned the area with narrowed eyes. Suddenly, he widened his eyes as a powerful Spiritual Energy rippled from his right, accompanied by the sounds of screeching wind.

From the place where Mu Chen had been watching, two groups of nearly a hundred people each appeared out of nowhere and landed on one of the nearby peaks.

Mu Chen was familiar with them; they were the Heavenly Dipper Sword Faction and the Earthen Way Sect. However, their current formations were far more intimidating than the last time he'd seen them. They'd clearly received their reinforcements.

The sheer number of people between the two forces wasn't something to be dismissed, either, and the Spiritual Energies that rippled from them were exceptionally powerful. As a result, they'd attracted quite a few looks as the leaders of several other forces in the area frowned at the scene. It looked like the Heavenly Dipper Sword Faction and the Earthen Way Sect had both put quite a bit of money into this expedition.

"Both forces have two Heavenly Transform Stage elders!"

Li Qing looked over with her charming eyes and frowned. The Heavenly Dipper Sword Faction and the Earthen Way Sect probably wouldn't rank among the Northern Heavens Continent's most powerful forces, but they were still the local bosses of the White Dragon Hillock. They were the only forces who could send out so many people on such short notice. If any treasures appeared in this Sovereign Spirit Treasury, they'd be the ones with the power to seize them.

Su Xuan nodded. There was little she could do; the information they'd been given for the assignment only said that it was a "Wealthy Spirit Treasury", and that was what they'd had in mind as they built their party. Who would've thought that once they reached their destination, the supposed Wealthy Spirit Treasury would turn into a Sovereign Spirit Treasury?

"Just do your best. All we need is a single item from the Spirit Treasury to prove that we've been here. Mission complete. As for the other treasures, that'll depend on the situation at the time."

Everyone nodded at Su Xuan's words. That's all they could do given the current situation, since Su Xuan was the only member of their party with exceptional strength. The other four weren't terribly outstanding among all the experts gathered there.

Shhhhhhhuu!

The screeching of the wind interrupted their conversation again. Everyone looked in the direction of the sound and saw nearly a hundred bodies rushing over and landed on another peak.

"They're from White Dragon City." Mu Chen scanned the crowd and picked out Bai Dong, the Young City Lord, standing at the front. Next to him was that grey-robed elder and behind them were nearly a hundred people dressed in white robes that were decorated with patterns of soaring dragons. They stood silently behind Bai Dong with knife-sharp glints in their eyes as they glanced around. An aura of bloodthirst surged around them.

Mu Chen couldn't stop his frown as he watched the white-robed figures. Even though their Spiritual Energies weren't terribly impressive, they didn't make him feel too comfortable.

"It's that despicable guy." Su Ling'er had also noticed Bai Dong's arrival. A look of disgust crossed her face.

Su Xuan also frowned the moment she looked over. Even though White Dragon City's army wasn't a small force, they only gave off ordinary Spiritual Energy ripples. The strongest one was probably the grey-robed elder — a Heavenly Transform Stage Initial Phase. Their formation was definitely weaker than the Heavenly Dipper Sword Faction or the Earthen Way Sect. But for some reason, Su Xuan felt that they were the greater threat.

"Hehe."

When Su Xuan and her party spotted Bai Dong, the latter had done the same to them. An eerie smile spread over his face, but he didn't provoke them for the moment. He knew this wasn't the place to start a fight.

Mu Chen slowly pulled his eyes away and looked back at the lake, waiting for something to appear.

The day wore on and night cloaked the mountain range. A full moon hung high above the horizon and spread its ice-cold light over the sky and earth.

Everyone held their breath; all conversations ceased. An excitement swept over them.

There were no movements from the depths of the mountains, even as the light of the moon grew ever colder. Some of them began growing impatient. Was today not the day when the Spirit Treasury would appear?

Enraged voices sounded low as they spread on the night wind.

Mu Chen calmly focused on the moon's reflection on the lake. That was when the moon on the lake, emitting a peculiar glow.

The glow rose from the lake water and formed a faint mist on the glassy surface.

"Something's happening!"

Mutters of excitement passed through the crowds. The strange signs had appeared again!

As the forces grew excited, the Spiritual Aura between heaven and earth suddenly turned a little violent and collected above the lake with an impossible velocity.

Shhhhhuuuu!

The moon shined brilliantly on the lake's surface. Watched by countless awestruck expressions, the light slowly formed into the shape a humanoid figure.

The lake-being wore a white robe. The details of his face were indistinct, but the patterns on his robe were those of vivid and lifelike dragons. A frightening pressure had rippled over the land.

"Roaaaaar!"

The snarl of a dragon echoed with the appearance of the light entity. The area around the lake quaked violently as the mist gathered again to form a white dragon that spiraled around the figure.

"That's…!"

Everyone watched the white figure and his dragon with expressions of shock. An emotion of joy and awe flushed through the crowd.

"It's the White Dragon Sovereign!"

Su Xuan's jade-like hands were tightly clenched. Expressions of surprise, happiness, and helplessness were simultaneously shown in her charming eyes.

The Spirit Treasury that was appearing was indeed a Sovereign Spirit Treasury!