Picking Up Attributes From Today c1-406
Page 34
This was of secondary importance. Meng Lei could easily raise the difference by selling his magic cores, gems, magic devices, and other things in his possession.
The main concern was—what was he to do after that?
The advancement from seventh-grade to eighth-grade already required a lot of gold coins. What about eighth-grade to ninth? And from ninth to Saint Domain?
How many gold coins would these need?
,000,000?
,000,000?
Or... even more?
Meng Lei did not have the answer. But one thing was certain. The more one progressed, the more they needed. The amount may exceed his imagination.
“Not enough! Far from being enough!”
Meng Lei let out a suffocating breath. That wisp of joy in his heart also disappeared. He felt that he had an arduous task, and the road ahead was long.
“Make more money! I need more money!”
Meng Lei ventured deeper into the Magical Beast Forest without any hesitation.
“There’s a Magical Beast at one o’clock!”
“Ding! Ghostly Spirit Cat killed, 3,200 gold coins gained!”
“Another Magical Beast at four o’clock!
“Ding! Horned Rhinoceros killed, 8,300 gold coins gained!”
He continued to venture deeper. Although the Magical Beasts were getting scarce, they were stronger!
Fourth-Grade Magical Beast!
Fifth-Grade Magical Beast!
Sixth-Grade Magical Beast!
Meng Lei advanced deep into the forest and finally reached the area where the Sixth-Grade Magical Beasts were. By then, the night had quietly fallen, and the Magical Beast Forest was gradually shrouded in darkness!
“It’s getting dark. I have to find a safe place to spend the night.”
Most of the Magical Beasts hid in their nests during the day and hunted at night. Hence, the Magical Beast Forest was much more dangerous at night than during the day!
Because of this, the night was a great opportunity to hunt for Magical Beasts. However, Meng Lei was unable to continue. After a day of running around, he was already very tired and needed a rest to replenish his strength and energy.
Nevertheless, in the depths of the Magical Beast Forest, he could not let down his guard.
Now that it was night, where would be a suitable place to rest?
Meng Lei released the magic carpet and hovered over the forest, looking for a suitable place to camp. As he was high up in the air, he was able to see far and managed to find a spot.
“That canyon looks good!”
A long and narrow crack appeared in the sea of trees ahead as if someone had cut through it with a knife. It was a canyon sandwiched between two big mountains.
“Let’s head over there to take a look.”
Meng Lei activated the magic carpet and flew over quickly. Within a short while, he had reached the top of the canyon and saw a gurgling stream flowing from the canyon’s depths. The vegetation on both sides of the stream was extremely lush.
If one didn’t look carefully, they wouldn’t be able to find it.
Meng Lei followed the stream and flew all the way into the depths of the winding canyon. At times, it was narrow, but at times, it was spacious, extremely inconsistent. As he got deeper, his field of vision gradually widened.
At the deepest part of the canyon, a huge pool appeared in front of him. White mist drifted above the water surface, giving off the appearance of a fairy cave.
The mist looked like a scene from a dream.
“This is... a hot spring?”
While hovering in the air, Meng Lei could feel a sense of warmth on his face, which made him overjoyed. Clearly, there was a hot pool below.
“If it’s really a hot spring, that will be great!”
Meng Lei landed on the water and stretched out his hand. A warm current that was able to soothe his muscles and bones traveled from the water, permeating his skin. It was extremely comfortable!
“This hot spring... fits the bill!”
After a tiring day, it was a great blessing to be able to encounter such a hot spring. Afraid that even Hui Xialiu1 could not resist it, Meng Lei gave off a cry, took off his magic robe, and plunged in without hesitation. He groaned in comfort as the hot spring water moistened his skin.
“What the heck! It’s too hot!
“However... not enough.”
Given the water temperature, an ordinary person would definitely be boiled and become a red-skin pig, but Meng Lei was different. His body was comparable to a Seventh-Grade Warrior, and he possessed the bloodlines of the Fire Dragon and Fire Demon. He was completely not afraid of heat.
Water at 70–80°C was no different from this hot spring!
“Haha, nice!”
Meng Lei opened up his arms and kicked his legs as he swam around the pool. The speed was enough to embarrass the fish and cause the toad to hang itself.
“Flip-flap, flip-flap” sounds echoed as the water splashed around in all directions!
Boom, boom, boom!
First was freestyle, which had the fastest speed.
Next was the energy-saving breaststroke.
Followed by the beautiful butterfly stroke... Forget it, he did not know how to perform it!
After a round of wild bombardment, Meng Lei lay on his back in the water and closed his eyes. He felt the wonderful feeling of the water gently touching his skin and the warmth sweeping across his whole body. Not to mention, all of this was simply amazing.
One way to describe it—very satisfying!
Crash!
At that moment, a sudden change occurred.
There was a deafening sound of water exploding, and a huge black figure suddenly jumped out of the water. It opened its big black mouth as it charged toward Meng Lei!
“What the hell?”
Meng Lei only felt a stench through his nose. Before he could react, he was swallowed by the black figure!
Gurgle~
Gurgle~
Burp~
The black figure burped contentedly and shook its head. It then dived back into the water, as if it had never appeared in the first place!
Chapter 64: The World At The Bottom Of The Lake, Saint Domain Dragon Corpse
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Meng Lei’s entire body was wrapped in greasy liquid. The terrifying pressure that engulfed him and the stench that assaulted his nose almost made him vomit out his overnight meal.
“I was actually swallowed!
“Goddamnit!
“I was cautious for most of my journey. Ultimately, I let my guard down!”
Meng Lei was a little ashamed. After he had come to the Magical Beast Forest, he had been extremely careful. Little did he expect that he would fall into a trap!
When one celebrated too soon, things would start going wrong.
“However, the most urgent thing is to get out of this wretched place. This stench is killing me!”
Just as he finished his thoughts, Meng Lei decisively decided to transform his body. A raging fire ignited across his whole body as his arms became longer and thicker, and his nails morphed into sharp claws. He was now in the state of Fire Demon!
“Burn!”
As Meng Lei transformed into a Fire Demon, raging flames began to burn. The black figure screamed in pain as it felt a bone-piercing pain. It began to twitch violently.
“Hey! This is what you get for swallowing me!”
Meng Lei could feel the black figure’s pain, and the anger in his heart was relieved. He had set off a huge fire in its stomach—it shouldn’t be a good feeling.
It was not over yet. Meng Lei used his claws to severely rip the black figure’s internal organs, similar to the scene where the Monkey King wreaked havoc in the Iron Fan Princess’ belly.
“Moo, moo—”
This hurt the black figure, and it cried like a cow. Its long tail slapped the water as it charged around madly in the pond. It wa
s in extreme pain.
Water splashed everywhere as waves tumbled, white mist rose, and the rocks crumbled!
Through the white mist, one could see the body of the black figure that was being exposed from time to time. It appeared to be an emerald green python with a bull’s head and horns and crocodile claws.
It was the Seventh-Grade Magical Beast—Crocodile-Backed Ox Python!
As a powerful Seventh-Grade Magical Beast, the Crocodile-Backed Ox Python was the tyrant of this area for a hundred-mile radius. This canyon and water pond were one of its lairs. Usually, not many Magical Beasts dared to trespass!
The Crocodile-Backed Ox Python had been sleeping at the bottom of the lake for a few days. Just when it had been about to go out hunting, it had found Meng Lei. Hence, it had swallowed Meng Lei in one bite and saved the effort of going out.
Unexpectedly, this was the beginning of a nightmare...
Its stomach was ravaged by flames, while a sharp blade was cutting through its intestines!
The suffering that it was going through was comparable to the Ten Great Tortures of the Manchu and Qing Dynastie.! The Crocodile-Backed Ox Python was in despair!
Its screams lasted for a full quarter of an hour before it gradually stopped. Finally, it died after experiencing the ultimate torment.
“Ding! One Crocodile-Backed Ox Python killed. 220,000 gold coins gained!”
“220,000 gold coins? Is this a Seventh-Grade Magical Beast?”
Meng Lei slashed its back and crawled out of the body. He felt sticky and smelly, and he almost vomited in disgust.
“Bah, bah! It’s so stinky!”
Meng Lei took his soap and shower gel out of the spatial ring. After rubbing hard for half an hour, the stench was gone.
“What the heck is this?”
Meng Lei felt a little helpless before recalling the monster he killed. It was a Seventh-Grade Magical Beast, and its magic core was very valuable. Well, it must be picked up.
Just as he thought of this, Meng Lei turned and looked around. He didn’t see any traces of the Crocodile-Backed Ox Python. He believed it must have sunk to the bottom of the pond.
“Let’s go take a look.”
It was pitch black at the bottom of the pond, and one couldn’t even see their fingers. However, this did not trouble Meng Lei. He dived to the bottom of the pond and executed the technique ‘Earthquake’!
A tremor gently rippled forth, and he received feedback on everything within a radius of 200 meters. Meng Lei easily found the corpse of the Crocodile-Backed Ox Python. However, he did not make a move.
He stared at the bottom of the lake as a strange expression flashed across his face.
“Below, the bottom of the lake is... empty?”
The magical thing about ‘Earthquake’ was that it could not only detect things on the ground, but it could also detect things one to two meters underground.
The tremors he felt were not from a piece of land.
Meng Lei made a miraculous discovery. The area one meter below the bottom of the pond was not earth or any geological formation. Rather, it appeared to be... an empty vacuum!
“Empty?”
“How could it be empty?”
“Weird!”
Meng Lei executed ‘Earthquake’ again. This time it was not to detect, but to... dig!
The mud deposit at the bottom of the pond slowly rippled outward. Within a short while, a hole with a two-meter diameter and a depth of one meter appeared.
According to Meng Lei’s conjecture, if the pond’s bottom was really empty, the water would pour into the ‘vacuum’ after he had dug the hole.
But he was wrong!
After the hole was created, the water did not gush into the hole. It was as if the hole did not exist at all. On the contrary, a dazzling red beam shot up out of the hole, blinding Meng Lei’s eyes!
After gradually adapting to the red light, Meng Lei couldn’t wait to look at the hole. He felt scorching heat on his face, making him feel as if he was in a volcano.
Right, this was the crater of a volcano!
He ended up discovering a red world below. There were red rock walls all round and red lava underneath.
Gurgle~
Gurgle~
The hot lava was like boiling water with bubbling black smoke, constantly releasing terrifying heatwaves and a pungent sulfuric smell.
“Underground... lava? Not possible!”
Meng Lei was dumbfounded. “This pond isn’t that deep. It can’t connect all the way underground. The only possibility... This is the crater of an active volcano! That’s why there is lava on such a shallow surface!”
Upon seeing the underground lava and experiencing the emitted heat, Meng Lei did not know why he was edgy with an itch in his heart...
He had an urge to jump into the hot lava and take a bath!
“Could this be due to the Fire Dragon bloodline in my body?”
Meng Lei quietly hypothesized as he popped his head into the hole to observe further. He felt that there was something strange about this crater as the water above it did not flow down. It was illogical!
“What is that?”
Meng Lei trembled violently as he stared in one particular direction. He was shocked and horrified as if he had seen a ghost.
“Dragon? Fire Dragon? That is a Fire Dragon?”
Meng Lei became a little incoherent. He saw an island sitting in the middle of the vast boiling lava lake. On it, there laid a giant beast of more than 50 meters long.
Its entire body was covered with fiery red impenetrable-looking scale armor.
Two dragon horns rose high up, as though they were trying to pierce the sky. Its bat-like wings were spread out, covering the entire island. Its stout tail was covered with barbs and was submerged in the lava. A ferocious and violent aura radiated from it. Even at a distance of tens of meters, Meng Lei could feel the pressurizing aura!
The ridiculous thing was that this behemoth was actually dead, a lifeless corpse. A black spear was stuck in its head, nailing it in place!
“This is a Fire Dragon!”
“Moreover, this is a Saint Domain Fire Dragon!”
“Why did it die here?”
Meng Lei found it hard to believe. Dragons were known as the sky’s overlords and belonged to the creatures at the top of the pyramid of lifeforms in the Heaven’s Vault Continent, not to mention Saint Domain Dragons!
In the first place, could such a powerful creature even be killed?
Chapter 65: Gouging Out Dragon Cores & Picking Up Dragon Sh*t
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Shock!
Confusion!
Disbelief!
Meng Lei was feeling a complex mix of emotions!
A Saint Domain Fire Dragon was already a strong and powerful existence that stood far above all other lifeforms. Creatures that could match up to it... were far and few, yet even it had been killed!
What did this bit of strength he possessed even count as?
“There are too many big fishes in Heaven’s Vault Continent! Sigh, I’d better just cultivate properly instead!”
Meng Lei readjusted his frame of mind. Then, as he gazed at the Fire Dragon carcass on the little island, an indistinct look flashed across his eyes. The value that a Saint Domain Fire Dragon’s carcass held was hard to imagine.
It was no exaggeration to say that even a single dragon scale scraped off from its body or a pile of dragon sh*t could fetch an exorbitant sum of money. After all, they were a Saint Domain dragon scale and a pile of Saint Domain dragon sh*t!
Its dragon core, in particular, was absolutely priceless and a most valuable treasure. Even a Ninth-Grade Magical Beast’s magic core could go for up to 10,000,000 gold coins, much less a Saint Domain dragon core?
“Also, it’s said that the Dragon race adores shiny and glittering things very much and loves to sleep in dens built with gold coins and jewels. As such, every dragon is a moving treasure vau
lt.”
The moment he thought of that, Meng Lei became worked up at once. A moving treasure vault! If that was really true, then he’d be rich for sure.
“I have to go down there! I absolutely have to!”
The more Meng Lei thought about it, the more agitated he became. How he wished he could jump into the pit, walk right up to the Saint Domain Fire Dragon carcass, pluck off its dragon scales, and pick up its dragon sh*t...
Now, here was the problem—how was he supposed to get down there?
Meng Lei tossed a rock into the pit. An invisible “wall” blocked the rock, and it couldn’t drop into the pit at all. Come to think of it, the same “wall” must have also blocked the water from the pool.
“A magic barrier?”
Meng Lei’s brows drew together at once. Magic barriers were a type of defensive magic spell. They basically worked on the same principle as magic shields and possessed defensive and isolation effects.
The difference laid only in the size of their effective range.
“With this magic barrier here, how am I supposed to get down there?”
Meng Lei was rather anxious. To pass through a magic barrier, one must either get the spellcaster’s permission or break it using sheer brute force!
Apart from that, there were no other solutions!
“It’s highly likely that the Saint Domain Fire Dragon put up the magic barrier. How can I possibly break it apart when I’m so weak?”
Despite thinking so, Meng Lei still attempted to launch an attack anyway.
What if... It broke, right?
The earth in the surroundings grouped together and swiftly transformed into a ten-meters-tall earth giant. This was the Sixth-Grade Earth Spell, Swamp Giant!
Boom!
The giant drew back its fist and smashed it hard against the magic barrier. Following a deafening explosion, the magic barrier remained as intact as ever, whereas the recoil’s impact shattered the earth giant.
“As expected, the magic barrier is rock-solid, indeed!”
Meng Lei’s heart sank. Then, he launched the strongest earth-elemental spell that he could cast as of now—Giant Boulder. Earth Elements started gathering in the sky and, under Meng Lei’s deliberate manipulation, condensed into an enormous rock shaped like an electric drill.