The Great Ruler

Chapter 243 - Breakthrough

The wind screeched over the magma lake as human figures scurried back and forth over its surface. Even though the raid earlier had depleted the area of most of its Fire Spirit Lotuses, there were still quite a few left over; after all, this magma lake was extremely vast. A lot of people had stayed in this area to scrape up some of those leftovers.

A white-robed figure sat on one of the huge stone platforms floating in the lake. His eyes were cold and focused as he stared into the scarlet magma, searching for any suspicious movements.

He was a Demonic Dragon Guard that Bai Dong had left behind before they'd moved on. That Bai Dong understood Mu Chen quite well — even after watching him fall into the magma lake, Bai Dong didn't want to give him a chance, so he'd left one expert behind to monitor the situation for him. If the guard noticed any sign that Mu Chen was still alive, then he'd immediately send them a message.

However, the grey-robed elder disapproved of Bai Dong's actions. The magma lake was extremely formidable; even the elder, himself, wouldn't be able to last more than five minutes. On top of that, they'd stayed in the area for more than ten minutes before they left. That was more than enough time for Mu Chen to have been burnt to ashes.

The Demonic Dragon Guard who'd been left behind was thinking the same thoughts; however, he couldn't disobey Bai Dong. Therefore, he impatiently stayed at his post with a terrible mood.

"A Heavenly Fusion Stage Initial Phase brat wants to live after falling in? How is that possible?"

The Demonic Dragon Guard smiled at no one in particular as he absent-mindedly looked around the boiling magma lake. Suddenly, his mouth dropped open as astonishment flooded his eyes.

The other experts who'd been digging the area for Fire Spirit Lotuses also watched the surface of the magma lake with expressions of disbelief.

A whirlpool had formed down there. And all of the Flame-Eaters were fleeing.

Bang!

A tall pillar of magma shot out from the vortex. A human form flew out from the liquid and moved to hover in midair.

The black flames slowly burned away to reveal a slender and handsome youth. Many of the spectators widened their eyes at his familiar features.

"It's that youth who got beaten into the magma lake by those people from White Dragon City!"

"How is he still alive?"

"How is that possible?"

Cries of surprise burst from those who saw Mu Chen's entrance and their faces turned pale as if they'd seen a ghost. At first, they'd felt sympathy for Mu Chen when they saw him fall into the magma lake. But who would've thought that he'd still be alive?

Mu Chen, however, didn't bother with the astonished faces. Instead, he looked down and looked at his slender hands, then clenched them. An unconcealable excitement permeated his majestic Spiritual Energy.

Thanks to the pure Fire Spiritual Energy within the Fire Celestial Lotus, Mu Chen's ability had been greatly strengthened and he'd even entered the Heavenly Fusion Stage Middle Phase. He could also sense that his Nine Netherflame had grown even stronger.

The greatest boost from the refined Fire Seed had been to his Nine Netherflame, instead of his Spiritual Energy.

Mu Chen showed a satisfied smile before he looked around. Bai Dong and his crew were already gone. It made sense; they didn't have the time to wait around for him.

"The next time we meet, I'll make sure you're not so comfortable." A chill flashed through Mu Chen's black pupils. He waved his sleeve and was prepared to leave, but his eyes were suddenly drawn to a stone platform a short distance away. His expression changed. On that stone platform stood a white-robed elder, staring at him in shock.

"They actually left a guard behind?"

Mu Chen's expression turned dark when he saw the white-robed expert.

The white-robed Demonic Dragon Guard mirrored Mu Chen's change of expression. His heart jumped. Then, without the slightest hesitation, he turned around and left. As a Heavenly Fusion Stage Middle Phase, he definitely wasn't Mu Chen's opponent. He had to find Bai Dong and tell him that Mu Chen was still alive.

Rustle!

But just as the guard started to fly away, a screeching wind made him turn his eyes over his shoulder. What he saw scared him so badly that his soul almost left his body. In that instant, Mu Chen had appeared right behind him.

"Since you stayed behind, then you should stay here forever," Mu Chen said with his cold but casual tone. The ice-cold bloodlust was clear to the ears of the Demonic Dragon Guard.

"Shhhhhu!"

The guard's face changed dramatically. With a clutch of his fingers, a long dark spear materialised in his hand and thrust forward with a trembling ferocity.

A pair of slender hands wrapped in dark flames also shot forward like twin bolts of lightning. They slid over the black spear and reached around the Demonic Dragon Guard.

Bang!

The guard's clothes immediately turned to ashes as a death-black palm print appeared on his back. He coughed up red blood as the despotic flames overtook his body and roasted him down to his meridians.

"Arrrghhh!"

The Demonic Dragon Guards shrieked miserably as he burned.

Mu Chen seized over the black spear with an apathetic expression. Then he swung it down on the Demonic Dragon Guard, much like one would swing a club. A violent gale rushed away from the pair as Mu Chen mercilessly pounded his opponent into the magma lake.

"Arrrghhh!"

The Demonic Dragon Guard shrieked again as he landed in the magma, but was quickly cut off as the boiling liquid engulfed him with a green cloud of smoke. He'd already been reduced to ashes.

With a flick of his finger, Mu Chen tossed the black spear after him. Once that was done, he dusted off his hands. Then he turned around and left, the whole time wearing the same calm expression.

The other experts in the area watched Mu Chen's shrinking back with expressions of fear as they realised that their heads were damp with cold sweat. Who would've thought that such a youngster could be so ferocious when provoked?

That young man was a fierce one. Bai Dong was going to have quite the headache for provoking him.

The experts shook their heads and sighed inwardly before they recovered and returned to their tasks of harvesting the leftover Fire Spirit Lotuses.

Roughly ten minutes later, Mu Chen had left the magma lake behind him. Ahead of him was the huge palace. People were rushing towards it in large numbers like hungry wolves and tigers — everyone was searching for the treasures that might appear.

This area was far more chaotic than the magma lake. Even the slightest would engulf a large number of victims, even if they had no idea what that even was.

Mu Chen swept his eyes over the scene and quickly lost interest. This was clearly still within the outer limits of the Spirit Treasury, so there was no way any treasures would appear all the way out here. Bai Dong and the rest probably hadn't wasted any time here, either.

Mu Chen thought about it a little, then decided to move ahead. With a quick flash, he bolted straight towards the palace. Once in awhile, some untactful idiot would get in his way. When that happened, all Mu Chen had to do was casually send out a palm and send them flying backwards with blood trailing from their mouths. He didn't bother with being polite. When everyone else saw what he was capable of, they grew too wary to act and simply allowed him to pass.

Mu Chen passed through the entryway and entered a long and narrow corridor, which occasionally branched off into a few ancient stone chambers. Mu Chen allowed others to hurry into those rooms ahead of him. Sometimes there'd be bursts of joy — sounded like they'd found some valuable treasures — but those sounds were usually followed by the clashing of weapons.

Mu Chen didn't let his attention stray in the slightest. He identified a single route and headed towards the depths of the palace. He'd already wasted too much time under the magma lake, so now he had to rush.

First, he had to rejoin with Su Xuan and the others. After all, they'd come here as a party. In this place that crawled with hungry wolves, only companions could be trusted.

"I hope nothing happened to them."

Mu Chen frowned and quickened his pace. He didn't have to worry about Su Xuan, with her strength. Li Qing and Guo Xiong were also strong enough to protect themselves. But then there was Su Ling'er, the weakest. If she'd been left alone, she'd definitely take hits due to her fiery temper.

Even though Su Ling'er was a little unreasonable at times, she was still a good person. Mu Chen didn't want anything bad to happen to her.

By the time Mu Chen was done with those thoughts, he'd already sped through several thousand-meter long corridors — and it'd only taken him a little over ten minutes. He'd already passed through a few stone chambers, main halls, and other types of rooms where some sort of Spiritual Aura rippled. However, he only glanced once into those rooms before he flew on. The things inside them weren't worth his time.

"I should've travelled the perimeter by now."

The more Mu Chen flew, the fewer halls and stone chambers he could sense. However, his sense of the scale only grew larger. Compared to the previous places he'd visited, this palace was much more intricate and majestic.

Mu Chen passed through another corridor and almost entered another stone chamber. The stone gate to the chamber had already been smashed and a few humanoid figures stood in the room with ripples of wild Spiritual Energy pouring from their bodies.

Mu Chen glanced into the ransacked chamber and hesitated. Finally, he decided not to press forward for the time being.

But just as Mu Chen was about to turn around, a burst of laughter drifted out of the stone chamber.

"Haha. Beauty, you should obediently hand that item over. Even though you've offended us, the great Lion Tiger Regiment, we can still forget about punishment — that is, if you're obedient. Otherwise, don't blame us once your smooth skin falls into our hands."

"Dream on!"

An icy-cold voice spat back at the laughter. A voice filled with anger and deep hatred.

"Is that so? Then don't blame us. Brothers, capture this ice beauty for me!" They laughed again.

Mu Chen halted his steps outside the stone chamber and narrowed his eyes. He'd heard that voice before — that must be Senior Sister Li Qing.