"From today onward, he is the new commander of our Nine Nether Palace!"
When Nine Nether's cold voice was heard, the whole palace went silent for a while. Then, everyone raised their eyes suddenly, looking at the young man behind Nine Nether, who had been very quiet and now looked exceptionally calm.
"Who is he? He seems to be quite young..."
"From this spiritual energy fluctuation, he seems to have just promoted to the sovereign-level. Is he even competent enough to become a commander?"
"Did she just find a person randomly to make up the number?"
"..."
Some doubtful whispering spread quietly, as all the people stared at Mu Chen with a suspicious look. Even though it was not easy for him to have such power at this age, to become a commander in the Daluo Territory, one must have real strength and not simply talent alone. Obviously, the pressure coming out from Mu Chen was not quite convincing enough.
Lord Asura glanced at Mu Chen emotionlessly, not saying anything. Behind him, the man called Xu Qing looked at Mu Chen for a while longer.
At the moment, Lord Blood Hawk also squinted slightly, as he gazed at Mu Chen. His look was as frightening as a viper. Scanning Mu Chen up and down, the corners of his lips twitched uncontrollably, then he said, "Who is this? He's not from our Daluo Territory, right?"
"He is, at least from now onward. As the leader of the Nine Nether Palace, I naturally have the rights to appoint someone as the commander of the Nine Nether Palace. I don't think you can interfere with this, right?" Nine Nether said tonelessly.
Lord Blood Hawk lowered his eyes slightly, then said, "Although this is true, the Nine Nether Palace is still under the Daluo Territory, after all, and the commanders in our Daluo Territory are chosen only after undergoing many rounds of intense battles. If you can appoint someone to have such a position at will, isn't it unfair to the other commanders?"
"Furthermore, if the commander you appoint is too weak, the other forces will mock us, saying that the Daluo Territory has no more powerful people. So, regarding the appointment of commanders, I'm afraid you can't just decide such things all by yourself," Lord Blood Hawk asserted firmly.
Behind Lord Blood Hawk, both Wu Tian and Cao Feng were staring at Mu Chen. The former seemed unconcerned, but the latter looked somewhat gloomy, because he recalled that, when he was brought back by Nine Nether to the Nine Nether Palace in the first place, she also had bestowed upon him the position of commander.
However, after Nine Nether had left for so many years, he had also eventually left the Nine Nether Palace, because the Nine Nether Palace without Nine Nether was much weaker than the Blood Hawk Palace. His actions for leaving also showed that he also had not expected Nine Nether to actually return again.
In addition, this time, she had even brought a young man along with her...
"You want to use him to replace me?" Coldness flashed across Cao Feng's eyes, as he stared at Mu Chen with a murky look, while looking down upon him. It was obvious that, when compared to him, Mu Chen was much weaker. As such, it seemed that Nine Nether was becoming worse at choosing talents.
In the palace, a few of the other seven lords also nodded to indicate that they agreed with Lord Blood Hawk's statements. Most of these people had some kind of a relationship with Lord Blood Hawk. And so, at that time, they were the ones who jointly suggested that the Nine Nether Palace should be dismissed.
Seeing this interchange, Nine Nether's beautiful eyes were filled with more coldness, but not so much surprise. Obviously, she had foreseen that this issue would not be resolved so easily.
On the three lotus platforms, at the highest part of the palace, the Condor King and the Spiritual Pupil King remained silent, allowing the rest of those present to argue, while the Sleeping King had always maintained his signature sleepy look. It was as if even very major events, like that which was occurring at present, would not be able to wake him up!
Tang Bing and Tang Rou also gritted their teeth. In their hearts, they were cursing those who were trying to stop Nine Nether.
Mu Chen smiled gently, before taking half a step forward. He stared at Lord Blood Hawk, whose look was so penetrating, it seemed to be able to pass through a person's body. Smiling, Mu Chen asked, "May I ask, Lord Blood Hawk, what do I need to do to show that I am qualified to become a commander?"
Lord Blood Hawk only cast a fleeting glance at Mu Chen. Then, he leaned back on his stone chair and lowered his eyes, not showing any interest in talking further. Clearly, he felt that Mu Chen did not even have adequate importance to even speak to him.
Indeed, he was one of the nine lords in the Daluo Territory, and was a grade five sovereign. There were many powerful people under his command, and he could decide a person's fate by the snap of a finger. If Mu Chen did not presently have Nine Nether at backing him, Lord Blood Hawk would have already waved his hand and killed him. Therefore, he did not even bother to reply to Mu Chen. Lord Blood Hawk's dismissive behavior had caused the coldness in Nine Nether's eyes to intensify, but Mu Chen simply remained smiling calmly.
"To prove that you are qualified is simple…" Behind Lord Blood Hawk, Wu Tian, one of the four great commanders, suddenly sneered, showing his dense white teeth. "You just need to defeat a commander."
Killing intent was surging in his eyes, and he was clearly despising Mu Chen, because he did not want someone to go near the twin sisters that he had taken a fancy to.
Hearing his words, Mu Chen laughed. Then, he stared back at Wu Tian with his black eyes and smiled, saying, "That's actually a really good idea."
After he finished speaking, Mu Chen moved to the spacious part of the palace. Then, scanning his eyes around the area, he challenged, "Is there any commander that would like to enlighten me?"
Mu Chen was not too humble, because he could already tell that such so-called humbleness and politeness were completely useless here. At this place, only power would grant him the real right to speak. Otherwise, nobody would respond to his words.
"Quite brave." Behind Lord Mountain Cracker, Zhou Yue, who was also one of the four great commanders, raised his eyebrows and commented. However, he had no intentions of intervening, because everyone could tell that this was a fight between the people under Lord Nine Nether and Lord Blood Hawk. He was under Lord Mountain Cracker, so naturally would not interfere. Moreover, he disliked Lord Blood Hawk's group.
The other lords also watched the scene interestedly. Even those clans that were considered to be allies with Lord Blood Hawk did not come forward to intervene. Although they did not care about Mu Chen, they were slightly afraid of Nine Nether, who had obviously passed her tribulation to become much stronger.
"Humph."
Wu Tian smiled, showing his mouthful of dense, white teeth, which made him look like a beast. He sneered at Mu Chen mockingly, and also did not seem to quite understand why the young man before him had such courage.
The fact that Mu Chen could enter the sovereign-level at his age did indeed indicate that his talent was outstanding. But, in this world, there were too many geniuses who died young. Among them, the large majority met their deaths, due to just such arrogance as Mu Chen was now displaying.
Wu Tian could naturally sense that Mu Chen had obviously just entered the sovereign-level a short while ago, as the spiritual energy fluctuation emitting from him was weaker than that of those experts, who had entered the sovereign-level for many years.
"Zhao Zhong, go and see if he is really qualified to become a commander," Wu Tian instructed, as he turned his head slightly to smile at a man behind him.
He really wanted to kill this young man named Mu Chen, but he was one of the four great commanders, after all, and had quite a reputation to uphold within the Daluo Territory. He would really be degrading his own status, should he deal with the bragging young man himself.
At the side, Cao Feng also folded his arms and stared at Mu Chen with cold eyes. He similarly did not go for the fight himself, because his view on matters was identical to Wu Tian's.
A forbidding smile appeared on the pale face of the man named Zhao Zhong, who was standing behind the two. He was also a commander under Lord Blood Hawk. Even though he was not as well-known as Wu Tian and Cao Feng, he had also been promoted to grade one sovereign a long time ago.
Furthermore, he had fought hundreds of battles, and his every action would reveal a shocking killing intent. Obviously, he had experienced many real life-and-death situations.
Lord Blood Hawk did not speak throughout the entire event, as if he had given Wu Tian all the rights to talk. However, one could tell by just the look coming from the corner of his eyes, that he was waiting to watch an entertaining performance.
Zhao Zhong moved to appear at the center of the palace. He stared at Mu Chen, the smile on his face somewhat ferocious and cruel. Over these years, he had seen too many young geniuses, just like Mu Chen, many of whom had died at his hands.
"Kid, I don't show mercy during a fight. If you scram now, maybe you will suffer less pain. Or, you can switch to our Blood Hawk Palace, as it's better than that weak woman palace," Zhao Zhong smiled eerily towards Mu Chen as he said these things.
"This disgusting bastard!"
Hearing that this person was humiliating the Nine Nether Palace, Tang Rou's face instantly turned red. Tang Bing's face also became cold. In contrast, Nine Nether had no reaction. Her eyes only stared at Mu Chen's back.
Mu Chen's face was still calm. Hearing the taunt from his opponent, he simply smiled.
"Summon your sovereign celestial body," Zhao Zhong licked his lips and said.
"I have yet to cultivate it," Mu Chen smiled and said.
In the palace, everyone was temporarily stunned, after which, their looks became strange. Is this kid too stupid, or just too crazy, that he dares be so arrogant here, when he hasn't even cultivated his sovereign celestial body?
Even Tang Bing and Tang Rou's faces changed slightly. Clearly, they also did not know that Mu Chen actually had not cultivated his sovereign celestial body yet.
"That's unfortunate."
Zhao Zhong sighed lightly, but the smile on his face became more ferocious. He stepped forward suddenly, and a shocking spiritual energy swept out. Then, an extremely giant spiritual energy shadow appeared around him.
"Since this is the case, you can go and die."
"Extreme Frost Celestial Body!"
A huge, ice blue sovereign celestial body flashed out all of the sudden. A cold mist swept across the space, causing the air to freeze and solidify. After hearing that Mu Chen had yet to cultivate the sovereign celestial body, not only did Zhao Zhong not have any intention to show mercy, but he became more cruel instead. Right at the start, he summoned his sovereign celestial body. Clearly, he wanted to give Mu Chen the heaviest blow with the quickest speed.
Although the sovereign celestial body that he had cultivated was not considered as being rare, and was also not among the 99 celestial bodies in ranking, it was already sufficient to deal with a kid, who had not even cultivated his sovereign celestial body yet. Mu Chen raised his head and stared at the enormous sovereign celestial body, his black eyes still looking calm. Yet, under that calmness, there was an icy current flowing.
"Sovereign celestial body... is it even strong? I will help you to refine it."
Mu Chen formed a seal with one head. He similarly showed no hesitation, and a bright column of spiritual energy gushed out from the top of his head. In the light column, a black light tower was partially visible.