Picking Up Attributes From Today c1-406

by Panda Reunion, 团圆小熊猫

  “An ant tide is a disaster itself! A natural disaster that nobody can stop!”

  Meng Lei agreed wholeheartedly with Ol’ Amos’ words. “Since it’s a disaster, then let us stop this disaster. I don’t believe that there’s really no end to the Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants!”

  If there’s really no end to them, then that’s just as well, too. Won’t my 1 billion gold coins be settled, then?

  “Seventh-Grade Spell, Flame Inferno!”

  Boom!

  A white fireball 100 meters wide plummeted from the sky and exploded right in the center of the ant tide wave. Amid the earth-shattering explosions, flames surged into the sky, and the whole area within several kilometers turned into a sea of fire.

  Crackle!

  A wide expanse of Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants was burned into ashes while the red ant tide’s center turned into a void!

  “Ding!”

  “Ding!”

  “Ding!”

  Meng Lei’s Wealth increased frantically!

  “Wonderful!”

  Meng Lei felt marvelous. Then, he went to the front of the ant tide and threw down another white 100-meter-wide fireball.

  Boom, boom, boom!

  Fire blazed brightly, flames rushed into the sky, and a sea of fire flooded the ant tide!

  Meng Lei then went to the ant tide’s rear.

  Boom, boom, boom!

  “Ding!”

  “Ding!”

  “Ding!”

  “Dragon-Language Magic sure is handy!”

  Meng Lei was very pleased with the Seventh-Grade Dragon-Language Magic spell’s might as he watched the white flames blazing on the ground. Not only was the spellcasting time shorter, but it was even double to triple an ordinary spell’s might, despite only consuming 60% of the magic power. The advantage it held was simply too big!

  Using less than 60% of the required magic power to bring out double to triple the spell’s might—this was the difference between Dragon-Language Magic and ordinary magic.

  “The Dragon race is favored by the magic elements from the beginning, so of course Dragon-Language Magic would be more powerful. Back then, in order to study and research on Dragon-Language Magic, you can say that I had spent my entire life’s worth of blood, sweat, and tears on it!”

  At the mention of Dragon-Language Magic, a smug look couldn’t help but come over Ol’ Amos’ features. Dragon-Language Magic was the Colossal Dragons’ exclusive privilege before him, and only Colossal Dragons could cast those spells. Not even Dragon People could do it.

  It was exactly because of his, Amos Kroc’s, diligent and relentless research that the veil shrouding water-elemental and fire-elemental Dragon-Language Magic spells had been removed, such that Dragon-Language Magic was no longer exclusive to the Colossal Dragons.

  It was no exaggeration to say that he had made an enormous contribution to the study of Dragon-Language Magic. He could be said to be the forefather of Dragon People using Dragon-Language Magic.

  “What a shame that you only know water-elemental and fire-elemental Dragon-Language Magic, Ol’ President.” Meng Lei’s greed was rather insatiable. “If only you knew thunder-elemental, earth-elemental, and wood-elemental Dragon-Language Magic spells, too!”

  “That’s only because you’re such a mutant to possess four types of magic talent!” Ol’ Amos said dryly, “I only have water-elemental and fire-elemental magic talent, so I could only conduct research on these two types of Dragon-Language Magic. I couldn’t conduct research on the other elements even if I’d wanted to! But...”

  “But what?” A look of confusion came over Meng Lei’s features.

  “More than 20,000 years have already passed since my time. Development in Dragon-Language Magic should have already made significant progress. When you return to the academy, you should be able to learn thunder-elemental, earth-elemental, and wood-elemental Dragon-Language Magic,” suggested Ol’ Amos.

  “That makes sense!”

  Meng Lei’s eyes brightened. “It’ll more or less be the beginning of a new term after this ant tide. I’ll think of something when I get back to the academy. I should be able to find a chance to learn it!”

  “Okay!”

  Ol’ Amos twisted his beard and gave a nod. He was very approving of Meng Lei learning the other three elements’ Dragon-Language Magic. Given his wonderful magic talent, not learning it would be a waste!

  Thunder, fire, earth, and wood!

  Tsk, tsk. Magic talent of four elements!

  What enviable talent!

  “Let’s go! We’ll head to our next destination.”

  Meng Lei cast a glance at his Wealth. Then, he steered the magic carpet toward the next area. The surging ant tide filled every part of the Magical Beast Forest. In less than half an hour, Meng Lei had already found several groups of Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants.

  With regard to that, Meng Lei had only one course of action—burn them!

  Burn them till the skies and the lands turned black!

  Burn them till there weren’t any more light left during both day and night!

  Burn them till not a single one of them was left!

  Burn, burn, burn!

  He’d burn, burn, and burn!

  He set them all ablaze the whole way as he searched for more of them.

  Meng Lei then discovered another wave of the ant tide. The scale wasn’t very big, but they stretched all the way for three to four kilometers, their numbers fairly big, too.

  Another windfall!

  Meng Lei was in a wonderful mood. However, when he got ready to cast his spells to burn the ant tide to a crisp, he discovered to his surprise that this particular group of ants didn’t seem to be pursuing any prey. Instead, they were... fleeing?

  “What’s the matter with these ants? There’s clearly a group of Iron-Backed Lizards not too far to their left, but why aren’t they going after them? Can’t they see them?”

  “Yes, how strange, indeed!” Ol’ Amos also looked puzzled. “All the ant tides that we’ve encountered along the way were madly pursuing their prey, but this wave of ants is fully ignoring their prey instead... Hmm?”

  Ol’ Amos’ eyes suddenly widened. He pointed at the ants and shouted in a low voice, “Look over there, brat! Is there something in the middle of the ants?”

  Chapter 99: Mad Luck, a Juvenile Ant Monarch

  This ant tide wave wasn’t big in scale, with around one to two thousand Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants. It was a relatively small number.

  Unexpectedly, this ant tide wave didn’t actually rob for food like other ant tides. Instead, it fled in a great rush along one direction.

  Naturally, such strange actions made one suspicious.

  “Meng Lei, hurry. Look at the center of the ant tide.”

  “Center of the ant tide?” Meng Lei was a bit confused. “There’s nothing but Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants... Wait! What is that?”

  “It’s a bit too far, it’s hard to see clearly!”

  Meng Lei steered the magic carpet and approached. Then, in the ant tide’s center, he saw a strange Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant.

  It was strange because it was only 1/10 the size of an ordinary Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant, not much bigger than an ordinary puppet.

  Besides, it emanated golden light, and there were golden butterfly-like wings on its back. They looked as though they were made from gold.

  The little thing blended in the big ant tide army and followed its march. The other Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants simply ran without thinking, paying no heed to Meng Lei at all, as though they couldn’t see him.

  Nonetheless, this tiny member of the group was different. It discovered Meng Lei hovering in the sky, and its two ruby-like eyes betrayed fear and anxiety. It acted in a human-like manner!

  This little golden ant had its own independent consciousness...

  This was Meng Lei’s first thought.

  “Ol’ President, is it also a Bloodthirsty Iron-Cryst
al Ant?”

  This was Meng Lei’s second thought.

  The old man did not reply to Meng Lei, but instead, stared at the little golden ant hard, like he had seen some rare treasure. His eyes betrayed a mixture of emotions, such as amazement, excitement, and disbelief.

  “Ol’ President?” Meng Lei called, somewhat displeased.

  “Pfft...”

  The old man looked like he had just woken up from a dream. He first let out a long breath before turning to Meng Lei. Suddenly, the look in his eyes became conflicted. It contained envy, jealousy, and relief...

  “Ol’ President, why are you looking at me like this?

  Meng Lei felt a bit nervous from the old man’s look.

  “Brat, I’m seriously suspecting whether you are the Dragon God’s bastard now. Your mad luck is unprecedented!” The old man was a bit indignant. “First, the Gods-Slaying Spear. Then, the Golden Leaf. And now this! I just don’t understand, why do all good things come your way!?”

  (⊙o⊙)

  Meng Lei was astounded. “Ol’ President, you mean, this little fella is also a divine weapon?”

  “It’s a living thing, how can it be a divine weapon?” The old man shook his head slightly, but his tone changed. “But it’s better than a divine weapon!”

  “Not a divine weapon, but better than a divine weapon?”

  Meng Lei was perplexed. “Ol’ President, can you tell me more clearly? Why am I more and more confused?”

  The old man pointed at the little golden ant and said, “Do you know what this little fella is?”

  “No idea.” Meng Lei shook his head.

  “I told you before that ant-species Magical Beasts are an extraordinary group of Magical Beasts. Their self-consciousness is very weak, and all instructions come from their ant monarch.” The old man pointed at the little golden ant. “If my estimation is correct, it should be the ant monarch of this group of Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants!”

  “It’s the ant monarch?” Meng Lei’s eyes widened, and then he immediately shook his head. “This little fella is no match for even a Fifth-Grade Magical Beast, how can it possibly be the ant monarch? Ol’ President, are you sure your eyes aren’t playing tricks on you?”

  Any random Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant was easily at sixth-grade, so how would they listen to a little golden ant weaker than a Fifth-Grade Magical Beast?

  He must be joking!

  Ol’ Amos touched his beard and smiled. “Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants are the strongest, fiercest, highest battle-efficient Magical Beasts. Their monarchs are at least Ninth-Grade Magical Beasts.”

  “Is this little fella a Ninth-Grade Magical Beast?” Meng Lei laughed internally. The little golden ant’s aura was very weak, no match even for the big ant soldier beside it.

  A Ninth-Grade Magical Beast? I must be a fool if I were to believe you. You are an evil old man.

  “True, it may not be a Ninth-Grade Magical Beast now, but it doesn’t mean it won’t grow into a Ninth-Grade Magical Beast.” The old man touched his mustache and smiled. “In this world, there are no creatures that live forever, and no creatures that are born strong. The proper way is for bloodlines to carry on, and for the new to replace the old.”

  Meng Lei frowned. “Ol’ President, you mean...”

  “It’s very simple, actually. Although this little fella is weak, it is a newborn ant monarch.” The old man’s eyes lit up. “Boy, do you know what this means?”

  Meng Lei showed a contemplative look. “Ol’ President, you want me to subdue it, don’t you?”

  “You are not too stupid, huh!” The old man looked very excited. “Do you know how many people want to subdue the Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants ant monarch? Once the ant monarch is subdued, it means you have an entire ant tide army.”

  The old man looked at Meng Lei. “You’ve already witnessed the Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants’ terror. Imagine, if a person could control this ant tide army, what a spectacle would that be?”

  Meng Lei fell silent, and after a long while, he finally let out a breath. “I’m afraid that would be a disaster beyond imagination.”

  “Yes! Disaster!” The old man said quietly, “If it falls into the hands of good people, maybe it will be relatively better. However, once it falls into the clutches of evil people, it will definitely cause worldwide massacres with corpses lying across fields everywhere.”

  Meng Lei nodded quietly, agreeing to that statement.

  “What a pity. Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants are underground creatures, so they rarely appear aboveground. In addition, ant monarchs hide in the underground perpetually, so it’s almost impossible to subdue them.”

  The old man shook his head and sighed. “In the entire history of Heaven’s Vault Continent, people have subdued all kinds of magical pets, Even Saint Domain Magical Pets have not escaped the fate of becoming mounts, yet nobody has ever succeeded in subduing a Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ant Monarch!”

  “Never ever?” Meng Lei was stunned.

  “Never!” replied Ol’ Amos.

  “That’s really hard then.” Meng Lei shook his head.

  “So, you’ve really got mad luck!” A conflicted look appeared on the old man’s face again. “You have a juvenile ant monarch in front of you! As long as you successfully subdue it, you will break all records and become the first in history to do so!”

  “Subdue it?”

  Meng Lei swallowed, feeling his throat was dry, while his heart started pumping drastically beyond his control. Suppose he subdued the little golden ant, he would acquire a big army of Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants, wouldn’t he?

  An ant tide army that’s endless and enough to ravage everything...

  Meng Lei swallowed his saliva.

  “Let’s get it!” Meng Lei roared in a deep voice and then moved decisively.

  Thunderballs shot out of his fingertips one after another, and in the blink of an eye, they covered all the Bloodthirsty Iron-Crystal Ants. Cracking sounds echoed as the entire ant tide army was enshrouded by electric waves that wreaked havoc.

  The ant tide army flinched and twitched before collapsing to the ground. The little golden ant was hiding in the shivering ant tide’s center and looking at Meng Lei in horror. Evidently, it was terrified.

  “Haha! You are mine!” Meng Lei laughed, jumped down from the magic carpet, appeared in front of the little golden ant, and commented, “It’s hard to imagine that this little fella is controlling the entire ant tide army.”

  “Stop talking nonsense. Hurry and arrange the contract magic array!” Ol’ Amos scolded. “Remember, lay the master-servant contract magic array.”

  “Master-servant contract? Why?”

  Meng Lei felt confused. Before subduing little Teddy, Ol’ Amos had repeatedly been emphasizing that he had to set an equal contract magic array. Why was it different now?

  “It’s very simple. It doesn’t have to cooperate with you in battle, much less have a tacit understanding with you. What it has to do is to obey and be loyal to you.”

  “I see...”

  Chapter 100: Soul Magic, Your Name Shall Be Little Gold!

  Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

  Meng Lei had to admit that the old man’s advice made a lot of sense. Since it would be his army, of course, it had to obey his orders unconditionally and hit wherever he pointed without hesitation.

  From this point, signing a master-servant contract with the little golden ant was undoubtedly the best choice. After giving it some consideration, Meng Lei decided.

  Buzz!

  A magical array shining with colorful lights rose up, and a great invisible force arrived, covering the little golden ant.

  Squelch!

  The little golden ant seemed to know what it was about to experience, and its eyes betrayed how terrified it was.

  Suddenly, two golden light rays shot out of its eyes and fell on Meng Lei’s head.

  Boom!

  In the next instant, Meng Le
i felt a buzzing rumble in his mind, and the environment around him changed. The tall, ancient trees and the lush bushes disappeared, and tall buildings, beautiful little gardens, and green meadows replaced them. It was the place of his dreams!

  “This...”

  A huge jolt coursed through Meng Lei’s body.

  “Cola! Slow down! Slow down!”

  A familiar voice sounded beside his ears. Meng Lei turned to look and saw that his wife was walking around the neighborhood with his 2-year-old son. The son was running, stumbling along, while his wife was chasing behind him.

  “Cola!”

  “Wife!”

  Meng Lei’s eyes were filled with tears.

  Suddenly, a dog ran right toward them. The son got very scared and kept moving into his mother’s arms, crying badly...

  “Cola, don’t be afraid, Mom is here.”

  His wife hurried to hold his son in her arms and comforted him with a gentle voice.

  Meng Lei couldn’t suppress the emotions in his heart anymore. He hurriedly walked over, the longing in his heart flowing like a flood that overcame a dam.

  But from the old man’s perspective, Meng Lei stood still in place, like he had gotten incapacitated. The look in his eyes was dull and blank.

  Then, he suddenly waved a hand to remove the master-servant contract magic array and changed it to the magic array for an equal contract!

  “Brat, what are you doing?” The old man was shocked. “Why are you changing the array at the last minute...”

  But it was already too late. Two drops of blood rapidly appeared in the middle of the magic array, and then the two drops combined into one and separated into two again, entering the foreheads of Meng Lei and the little golden ant, respectively.

  Buzz!

  The contract was completed, and the magic array dissipated.

  The scene around Meng Lei also changed drastically. The tall building disappeared, his wife and son disappeared, and he was back in the Magical Beast Forest.

  “Cola? Wife? Where are you?”

  Meng Lei leaped hard onto nothing.

  “Brat, what the hell are you doing?” The old man’s voice sounded. “It was all good, so why did you change it to a magic array for an equal contract?”