Buzz!
When Su Mu's hand grasped the rusty sword on his back, a terrifying sword aura instantly erupted and wreaked havoc in the surroundings. The space in that area was sliced by the astonishing sword aura, leaving visible marks on it.
His eyes flickered with a dazzling radiance as he looked at Mu Chen. The gentleness from before had completely disappeared at this moment.
Courtesy before force. Since the courtesy was over, it was time for force. That's because they also wanted to measure Mu Chen's strength. If the latter didn't have the qualifications to form an alliance with them, then they would directly take action and forcefully snatch back the Battle Seals from Mu Chen's hands.
The equality between the two sides was built on sufficient strength.
If one wanted to be treated as an equal, then one would have to display the same strength.
Mu Chen also understood this point, so he didn't show any displeasure on his face. He gently nodded his head and said in an indifferent tone, "Then, I'll have to seek Brother Su's guidance."
Seeing that Mu Chen didn't show the slightest fear, Su Mu nodded his head. He had heard of Mu Chen's recent fame, so the latter should have some ability.
However, what they needed to do next was to deal with the three Holy Children. The three of them were famous in the entire West Heaven Continent, so they had to confirm if Mu Chen had the strength to back them up. If he didn't, then he would be the fastest to collapse and cause their plan to fail.
If that was the case, then it would be better for them to snatch back Liu Xingchen's Battle Seals, exchange them for treasures, and leave the battlefield as soon as possible.
With this thought in mind, Su Mu no longer hesitated. He pulled out the rusty metal sword and lightly swung it in front of him.
Buzz.
In that instant when the iron sword slashed down, ripples appeared in the sky before it. It felt as if it was slicing through a stream of water. In the next instant, the sword light abruptly exploded. A Sword Aura that was roughly a thousand feet in size, along with an unparalleled sharpness, tore through the horizon with a rustle as it slashed down towards the mountain peak that Mu Chen was on.
That sword looked as if it could sever all obstacles before it. Facing such a sharp sword, even a Greater Earth Sovereign could only dodge and not dare to receive it head-on.
Su Mu had clearly not shown any mercy when he made his move!
"The Langya Sword Celestial is truly worthy of his reputation."
Looking at the sword aura that whistled over, even Mu Chen inwardly praised. Shortly after, he waved his hand and a boundless Battle Will soared into the sky, forming into the Black Tortoise Battle Will Spirit. The Black Tortoise Battle Will Spirit unleashed a roar and blocked the path like a mountain.
Rustle!
The sword lustre slashed against the Black Tortoise Battle Will Spirit. In the next moment, the Battle Will Spirit unleashed a violent roar and Battle Will surged in an attempt to obstruct it. But in the next moment, the boundless Battle Will was torn apart by the sword lustre and a sword mark appeared on the Black Tortoise Battle Will Spirit.
Su Mu's sword had actually pierced through the defences of the Black Tortoise Battle Will Spirit!
Although the sword lustre had dimmed down after piercing through the Black Tortoise Battle Will Spirit, its speed did not decrease as it headed towards Mu Chen.
The sword light rapidly expanded in Mu Chen's eyes. Just as it was about to enter the hundred metre radius, a Spiritual Array surfaced around Mu Chen's body. Nine giant Spiritual Energy dragons roared towards the sky, spewing out boundless Spiritual Energy dragon breaths that violently clashed against the sword light.
Boom!
Boom!
The sword lustre whistled as the dragon breaths shattered. The sword lustre flickered and in a few breaths' time, it had already pierced through the Nine Dragon God-Killing Array and appeared before Mu Chen, pointing towards the centre of his brows.
"Formidable."
Seeing that even the Black Tortoise Battle Will Spirit and the Nine Dragon God-Killing Array couldn't stop Su Mu's peerless sword, Mu Chen exclaimed with a crystallised lustre surging in his eyes.
Rustle!
The sword lustre instantly arrived, but just when it was about to pierce the centre of Mu Chen's brows, a crystallised lustre shot out from the latter's brows and formed into an exquisite palm-sized crystal pagoda.
The sword lustre and crystal pagoda clashed once again.
Boom!
A clear and crisp sound rang out in the sky as the mountain peak that Mu Chen was sitting on was sliced into countless pieces of rocks as they rumbled down.
As the crystallised lustre blossomed, layers of it enveloped the sword lustre. Thereafter, the sword lustre fluctuated and gradually turned illusory, before turning into a speck of light and disappeared.
When the sword lustre dissipated, the crystal pagoda flew back to the centre of Mu Chen's brows. The latter sat in the sky and waved his hand, dispelling the Battle Will Spiritual Array. He raised his head and looked at Su Mu with a smile. "Lang Ya Sword Celestial, your reputation is well-deserved."
His words weren't false. That sword from before was sufficient to prove that Su Mu was an elite amongst the Greater Earth Sovereigns. That sword lustre was so sharp that even his Battle Will Spiritual Array and Spiritual Array couldn't obstruct it.
"That sword of his doesn't seem simple."
Mu Chen looked at the rusty sword in Lang Ya Sword Celestial's hand. Although the sword didn't look remarkable, he estimated that it was a Middle Rank Saint Artifact that could be comparable to Datura's Starlight Demon Suppression Pyramid.
Up in the sky, Su Mu looked at Mu Chen, who wasn't injured at all, and narrowed his eyes. He exchanged a look with Chu Men and saw the graveness in each other's eyes.
Although that sword from before wasn't Su Mu's strongest sword, he didn't hold back. But in the end, it was still obstructed by Mu Chen. Most importantly, Mu Chen had still held back.
That meant that Su Mu's sword did not even force Mu Chen to reveal his trump card. What Su Mu and Chu Men saw was the means that Mu Chen had previously revealed.
This made Su Mu and Chu Men feel that Mu Chen, who was only a Lesser Earth Sovereign, was unfathomable.
"Am I qualified?" Mu Chen looked at the two of them as he stood up and smiled.
Su Mu nodded his head with a smile. Even Chu Men had calmed down at this moment. Evidently, Mu Chen had won their acknowledgement with his strength.
"No wonder Mu Chen has been soaring in the sky recently. Now that I've witnessed it, I know that it's true." Su Mu and Chu Men approached Mu Chen with a gentle smile.
Mu Chen also wore a smile on his face. After a brief exchange, he changed the topic, "I wonder what the two of you intend to do next?"
He was naturally talking about the three Holy Children of the West Heaven Temple.
Chu Men glanced at Su Mu and said, "According to our estimations, the three Holy Children should be cleaning up the battlefield right now. I believe that it won't be long before everyone else will be chased out, aside from the three of us."
"They're intending to fight?" Mu Chen's face turned grave. The three Holy Children were intending to clean up the battlefield to prevent anyone from taking advantage of the situation.
"How will it be distributed during the battle?" Mu Chen asked again.
Chu Men scratched his head. "According to the agreement with Brother Liu, I should be the one to snipe Ling Longzi. That person's physique is powerful, and he walks the path of ferociousness like me, so we can face him head-on."
"On the other hand, Brother Su will obstruct Ling Jianzi. The two of them are the most outstanding amongst the Greater Earth Sovereigns in the West Heaven Continent in terms of sword aura. The two of them also have grudges in the past, and I believe that they intend to resolve it in this battle."
As he spoke, Chu Men and Su Mu awkwardly looked at Mu Chen. That's because that meant that Ling Zhanzi, who was the most troublesome amongst the three Holy Children, had fallen onto Mu Chen's shoulders.
"If Brother Mu doesn't feel good about it, you can leave Ling Zhanzi to me." Su Mu said with his teeth clenched after a brief pondering.
He naturally knew how powerful Ling Zhanzi was. Even Liu Xingchen, who was the strongest amongst the three of them, was defeated by Ling Zhanzi. So even he wouldn't be able to defeat Ling Zhanzi. But if he could drag the time for Mu Chen and Chu Men to win, then the situation might be reversed.
Mu Chen briefly pondered before he shook his head with a smile. "Thank you, Brother Su. But since I have obtained Brother Liu's Battle Seal, then I will naturally take on his responsibility."
"Furthermore, I'm afraid that Ling Zhanzi won't let me off."
Mu Chen rejected Su Mu's goodwill. Then again, he also didn't trust the latter. After all, if something happened to Su Mu and Ling Zhanzi swiftly dealt with him, it would undoubtedly affect the entire situation, which wasn't something that Mu Chen wanted to see.
Instead of that, he might as well face Ling Zhanzi. After all, unlike Su Mu and the rest, he wasn't afraid of Ling Zhanzi. On the contrary, he even looked forward to fighting the latter.
That was because he knew that Ling Zhanzi was a very good trial stone. He wanted to use the latter to find out exactly what his limits were!
When Su Mu and Chu Men saw the smile on Mu Chen's face, they were briefly stunned. That's because they could sense that the latter didn't seem to fear Ling Zhanzi at all.
"Perhaps he can really defeat Ling Zhanzi?"
The hearts of the two of them were also infected by Mu Chen as they felt slightly relieved and spoke with anticipation.
"In that case, let us stay here and wait for the arrival of the final battle."
Mu Chen smiled towards the two of them. Thereafter, he descended onto the boundless sea of trees and sat on the top of an ancient tree with a calm expression.
Su Mu and Chu Men had also descended on the two peaks and looked into the distance with their eyes flickering with Spiritual Energy surging around them, revealing the surging emotions in their hearts.
The sun and moon rotated in the sky, as if a day had passed in an instant.
Even if they were sitting here, Mu Chen's group of three could vaguely sense that this space had become more spacious and the boiling atmosphere had calmed down. Evidently, this space had been cleaned up.
As the warm sun hung high up in the horizon, Mu Chen's tightly shut eyes suddenly opened. Su Mu and Chu Men also opened their eyes.
They raised their heads and looked towards the western sky. The space there suddenly rippled and the clouds rolled as three streaks of light streaked across the horizon like comets.
In the blink of an eye, the streaks of light had appeared in this region and formed into three silhouettes that stood a myriad feet away from Mu Chen's group of three.
Looking at the three silhouettes, Mu Chen's group of three slowly stood up and stood in confrontation.
At this moment, the heavens and earth had gradually turned dark.
(~~)