The Great Ruler

Chapter 323 - Last Battle

The sky became progressively dim: however, the majestic Spiritual Light Mountain became unusually lively. At this time, almost all of the students who had participated in the hunt had already rushed towards the place of the final battle.

Everyone knew that this was the most important issue, as of now, and did not continue collecting Spiritual Lights. They had to guarantee the smooth pass of the final checkpoint. Only by passing through the three final protectors would they be able to obtain the benefits of the Spiritual Light Empowerment.

According to the rules, there was only one chance to challenge the three great protectors. Therefore, if they were to lose, all of the people within this year's hunt would return with empty hands, their year's worth of hard work down the drain.

Being a fight of such a level, ordinary students were unable to get involved. Therefore, they could only cast their hopes on the three strongest people they knew.

Although they knew that this would create an exceeding amount of pressure on them, this was, after all, the only thing they could do.

On the small peak on the Spiritual Light Mountain, Mu Chen sat cross-legged on the edge of the cliff. Looking at the seemingly endless sea of humans, he noticed the thick apprehension and anticipation within all of their eyes.

The protectors this time were too strong. Even if Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong were to collaborate, they knew that their chances of victory were still not high.

Rustle!

Soft footsteps rang out behind him, before Luo Li appeared beside Mu Chen. Taking a seat next to him, a faint smile appeared on her face as she asked, "Are you nervous?"

Hearing her question, Mu Chen helplessly shrugged his shoulders. If it concerned him, alone, he would naturally have a single fluctuation of his state of mind. However, the hundreds and thousands of people below him had cast all their hopes on his shoulders. If he were to say that he was not nervous, that would be lying.

Faintly panning his head over, he gazed at the absolutely beautiful face of the young girl, while a cherishing gaze erupted out from his eyes. He had only carried the weight of the students' hopes. However, what about Luo Li?

She'll become the queen of the Luo God Clan, and would carry the expectations of millions of citizens. She was their queen, and she would need to protect them.

Were he to lose, it would only result in everyone here losing a year of their bitter training. However, if she were to lose, the citizens of the Luo God Clan would be met with a cruel slaughter. The Luo God Clan would turn into a mountain of corpses and a sea of blood. That was the most bloody truth, and was something that cannot be changed.

Compared to the burden of Luo Li, his was truly not worth mentioning.

"Is it painful?" asked Mu Chen in a soft voice, extending his palm and gently caressing the young girl's cheek.

Luo Li's soft and lovable face curled up within Mu Chen's bosom, as a peaceful smile surfaced on her absolutely beautiful face, gently shaking like a cicada.

Mu Chen tightly hugged the young girl in his bosom. He knew that Luo Li possessed an extremely supple and strong character. Even with such pressure on her supple shoulders that would cause normal people to collapse and crumple, she would still carry it quietly by herself. However, this made people feel even more pain in their hearts.

"Relax, I won't lose."

Burying his face into that delicately fragrant hair of hers, he muttered to her.

On another mountain peak, Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong looked at the youth and the young girl snuggling together in the distance as the expression on their faces seemed somewhat different.

"I truly don't know why the academy would increase the difficulty level of the final protector to such a high level this year." Shen Cangsheng said while pursing his lips. If the difficulty was set similarly to the previous years, he would be able to deal with it sufficiently by himself. However, the difficulty level had risen multiple times this year.

The three Great Generals had come out. This was considered the first time such an occurrence happened in the past few years of the hunt.

"Only with stress would there be improvement. We can't just let you reveal your might and prestige every year, right?" replied Li Xuantong casually.

"Wait till I finish the Spiritual Light Empowerment this time. It's about time to settle things with that fellow, Mo Longzi." said Shen Cangsheng with a laugh. While mentioning about Mo Longzi, a cold glint conspicuously appeared within his eyes.

"Is that fellow very strong?"asked Li Xuantong as his forehead faintly wrinkled. He hadn't crossed hands with Mo Longzi before. However, since the latter was able to make Shen Cangsheng return with empty hands, he was obviously not someone easy to deal with.

"Yes." Shen Cangsheng replied while nodding his head, then continued, "After all, he's the genius nurtured wholeheartedly by the Demonic Dragon Palace. Furthermore, he's also still not considered the strongest amongst the younger generation of the Demonic Dragon Palace. That Mo Xingtian is even more terrifying. In a duel, even I might not be his opponent."

"Mo Xingtian." muttering that name, Li Xuantong's eyes contracted. That was an extremely vicious person, who was number 1 on the Bounty List. With regards to any Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy student, he represented an extreme amount of pressure.

"After this hunt, if you don't have anything going on, you can become a team with me and head out of the academy. At that time, we can try to see if we can deal with Mo Longzi and Mo Xingtian." Shen Cangsheng said with a smile as he extended his invitation out. Within the entire Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy, the people who possessed the qualifications to let Shen Cangsheng extend his invitations weren't many.

Li Xuantong felt slightly emotional. However, in the next instant, he raised his head and looked towards the majestic mountain peak while saying, "We have to settle this problem in front of our eyes first. If we lose this Spiritual Light Empowerment, the plan to destroy and kill would have to be postponed for some time."

Shen Cangsheng nodded his head in approval, before turning his gaze towards the youth in the distance. For the final fight tomorrow, the pivotal key would be on Mu Chen.

The night grew dimmer as the morning radiance split the cloud layers apart, illuminating the world once again. Under the Spiritual Light Mountain, the atmosphere started to grow fiery, bit by bit, as countless scorching gazes looked towards the mountain peak.

Whoosh!

Whooshing sounds rang out in the air, before the crowd cast their scorching gazes towards the figures that appeared in the air, which were Shen Cangsheng, Li Xuantong, Mu Chen and Luo Li.

As Shen Cangsheng stood proudly in the air, he overlooked the sea of people on the ground, before slowly saying, "I think everyone should know about the final rule of the hunt. This fight is extreme, and concerns the personal benefits of every one of us. However, I'll have to remind you that the three of us don't have an obligation to bear this role. Therefore, regardless of the result, we three will not hold any responsibility. If the result in not desirable, at that time, whoever feels they can bear the role can just stand up, and we'll give the position to them."

Upon hearing his words, the entire stretch of the world turned deathly silent, as everyone quietly listened to him.

Mu Chen sent an appreciative smile towards Shen Cangsheng. Mu Chen knew that he did this to take precautions against the possibility of him losing. At that time, there would be many people who would criticise him in disappointment. Although the ending has yet to be known, Mu chen felt very grateful towards Shen Cangsheng's intentions.

"Senior Brother Shen, please feel at ease. All of us won't take and inch and want a foot, and aren't discriminatory people. The three of you are the strongest amongst us. If even you three are defeated, we don't even have the qualifications to put up a contest. As for criticism, that is complete nonsense. I, Lu Hao, hereby say that even if we were to lose the final checkpoint, I'll absolutely respect the three of you, and would absolutely not feel resentment and indignation in my heart!" just as Shen Cangsheng's words rang out, a person from the crowd below immediately roared in reply.

"Yes!"

"We ask the three of you to try your best! Even if you three were to lose, there isn't anything worse than that!"

"Senior Brothers Shen Cangsheng, Li Xuantong and Junior Brother Mu Chen, good luck! Even if we lose, you three are the most formidable!" the clear and resonant voices of young girls caused many echos of agreement.

Mu Chen looked towards sea of people, whose spirits were continuously on the rise and gave a faint smile. Looking towards Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong, he said, "Seeing this, looks that there's no way for us to lose."

"It's good enough if you try your best."

Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong both gave a smile. Raising their heads towards the majestic Spiritual Light mountain, Shen Cangsheng said, "Let's go and take a look at exactly what areas the three Great Generals of the Punishment Hall are standing at."

As the said those words, he immediately shot forward. Transforming into a streak of light, he rushed towards the peak of the majestic mountain summit. Mu Chen, Li Xuantong and Luo Li immediately followed closely behind him, with the sea of students similarly exploding forth. Covering the earth and hiding the sky, they swept towards the mountain peak akin to a swarm of locusts.

This spectacle, was exceedingly spectacular.

……

As everyone within the hunting grounds headed towards the mountain peak, within the northern public square of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy disturbances started to occur. At this moment, the atmosphere was considered to have reached its peak within this half a month.

Within the public square, countless scorching gazes converged towards the sky. Presently, there was a gigantic light screen, where clouds were shown within it. At this moment, they had started to become faint as the majestic mountain peak became faintly discernable as it started to appear.

This change made everyone understand that the final fight of the hunt had already arrived.

Exactly whether everyone would return empty-handed or having a rewarding journey would depend on this fight that would astonish the heavens and the earth.

However, who exactly were the three strongest people that would represent all of the contestants? There naturally wasn't any need to talk about Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong. However, will the third person be a veteran influential figure, or a dark horse that had popped out of nowhere?

Everyone was holding their breath in anticipation of this.

Gazes converged towards the surface of the gigantic light screen. As the layers of clouds retreated, the scene present within finally became completely clear.

The giant peak stood erect on the summit of the majestic Spiritual Light Mountain. Akin to pillars that supported the sky, they pierced straight through the clouds.

On the top of those three giant peaks, three figures quietly sat on the edge of the cliffs. As the mountain winds blew past, causing their clothes to flutter, an indescribable oppression started to quietly appear, enveloping the entire stretch of the world. Even the students outside of the Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy were able to feel some pressure.

"Those are the three Great Generals of the Punishment Hall? Such astonishing and imposing auras!"

"Their undoubtedly the top three on the Heavenly Rankings. I'm afraid that they might all possess the strength of Heavenly Completion Stage? That's truly terrifying."

"This final check truly is too difficult. With the three Great Generals protecting the pass, even with Senior Brother Shen and the rest, it would be difficult to pass through."

"……"

The faces of countless students changed as they looked, with some respect, at the three statue-like figures sitting on the top of the mountain within the light screen. Anticipation could be faintly discernable from their eyes as they awaited the incoming fight, while thinking, That should be the highest level within our Northern Heavens Spiritual Academy right? This truly made people feel anticipation.

While everyone was waiting in anticipation, they were able to hear hurried whooshing sounds ringing out from within the gigantic light screen. They turned their attention over, only to see figures that hid the skies and covered the earth rushing forth through the lingering clouds akin to a swarm of locusts. Finally, floating in the air surrounding the mountain peak, the dense and numerous sea of humans seemingly had no end.

"They've finally arrived!" quite a few people could hardly restrain their excitement as they hurriedly looked over.

Under the attention of countless gazes, the sea of humans within the light screen rippled as three figures slowly swept across the gazes of the large crowd.

The front two of them were not unexpected, which were predictably Shen Cangsheng and Li Xuantong. After a split second of resting on them, all of the gazes turned towards the last thin figure.

As their gazes converged on the figure, the atmosphere within the northern public square seemed to have suddenly turned sluggish, since the mouths of countless people slowly dropped open.

"That's…"

Ye Qingling and the rest had opened their eyes wide as they looked towards the familiar figure, while thick disbelief erupted from within their eyes.

"Actually Mu Chen!"

At this instant, the entire northern public square was completely shaken.