What an incredible divine weapon! Did the Dragon God really craft this thing?
Never mind! Who cares? This is a piece of good news for me anyway, isn’t it?
Meng Lei pushed his doubts to the back of his mind and exited the Dragon God Tower. Right after he did, he was immediately met with several pairs of astonished, astounded, idolizing, jealous... eyes!
It was only then that Meng Lei realized that the area outside the Dragon God Tower was packed with people, and everyone was staring at him with all sorts of complex looks in their eyes as if they were staring at an alien.
“So, that’s Meng Lei? He looks so young!”
“I didn’t think that he would really be a human!”
“It’s hard to imagine that he’s actually a human!”
“In terms of talent alone, that guy is probably more of a mutant than even Prince Barbarossa, Sachhen the Golden Dragon-Lion, Adil the Thunder Giant, and so on!”
“He certainly has greater talent than Prince Barbarossa and the others, but that may not necessarily be the case when it comes to their strength. He’s too young...”
Wasn’t it daybreak just a moment ago? Where did all these people come from?
Meng Lei wondered to himself as he glanced at his pocket watch—it was currently only 7:25 a.m. and still early in the morning.
“Meng Lei!”
A familiar voice reached his ears at that moment. Meng Lei turned to see President Fred and the Fighting Dragon Academy president gazing at him with much approval and marvel on their countenances and their eyes brimming with gratification.
Behind them were the Fire Dragon Kingdom’s contestants. Joel and the others that had entered the Dragon God Tower together with him were also there.
“President Fred! Fighting Dragon Academy president!”
Meng Lei walked over and greeted them.
“Atta boy! You’re finally out! I was so worried that you had lost track of time and would end up missing the exchange competition.”
President Fred patted Meng Lei on the shoulder hard, the very picture of a greatly comforted and gratified old man. “Haha! You’ve really brought great honor to the academy and Fire Dragon Kingdom this time.”
“Coming in at 227th place and reaching Level 40 at 16 years old!”
The Fighting Dragon Academy president remarked in astonishment, “It’s truly a marvel that you can accomplish results like that during the very first time you enter the Dragon God Tower!”
“227th place?”
Meng Lei turned to look at the huge magic screen—true enough, he saw his name occupying the 227th position!
“No. 227: Meng Lei, Human, 16 years old, Level 40”
“I’m already at 227th place?” Meng Lei was rather surprised. “That’s really quick!”
“How do you feel? Have you been astonished by your own results? Hahaha!” President Fred burst into laughter and said, “Frankly speaking, you’ve astounded all of us. So much so that none of us even slept a wink the whole night. Instead, we just stayed here the whole time and watched your god-like achievements from challenging the tower!”
“All of you were waiting here the whole night?” Meng Lei was a little stunned. “Do you really need to be that crazy?”
“Of course! How can we not be?” The Fighting Dragon Academy president, who was all smiles, said, “You’re now hailed as the number two person in the empire’s history of 40,000 years! It’s just a notch inferior to Timon Barton, who’s ranked number one!”
“Number two in history?” Meng Lei shook his head. He didn’t give two hoots about all these empty titles—they weren’t even as valuable as a few hundred gold coins.
At this point, a smiling President Fred said, “It’s about time. We should head to the Dragon God Cathedral now.”
“Alright!”
Then, everyone began to make their way to the Dragon God Cathedral.
During the whole journey there, everyone asked Meng Lei about his experiences during the process of him challenging the tower, to which he answered all their questions one by one, causing them to constantly gasp in astonishment.
In particular, a small group of them that had also entered the Dragon God Tower—such as Francis and the others—found it even more unbelievable.
The Dragon God Tower really wasn’t an easy place to challenge.
This was especially true from the 21st level onward—each of the Ninth-Grade Magical Beast packs was crazier than the last and harder to deal with than the last. A moment of carelessness, and one would die a tragic death.
Francis knew this only too well.
On the other hand, Meng Lei had bulldozed his way through and climbed all the way to the 40th level just like that. Moreover, judging from how he sounded, if it weren’t for the fact that he needed to participate in the exchange competition, he would have no problems going even further up.
Just what kind of combat strength was that?
As they chatted idly with one another, they finally arrived at the Dragon God Cathedral half an hour later.
The Dragon God was the one and only god that the Dragon God Empire’s billions of citizens believed in. The Dragon God Vatican was a church that worshipped the great Dragon God, and the Dragon God Cathedral was their headquarters.
Chapter 156: Picking Up Items Until Even His Hand Had Gone Limp, Generous Rewards
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The Dragon God Cathedral was a snowy-white color throughout.
Lofty and majestic, grand and magnificent!
Squarish in structure and solemn in bearing!
And last but not least, dignified and holy!
In front of the Dragon God Cathedral stood an altar approximately 1,000-feet-tall. As enormous as a mountain ridge, the whole structure was crafted from gold and looked like a pyramid with its tip shaved off.
A 1,000-feet-tall Golden Colossal Dragon statue stood at the apex of the altar. It had rows and rows of golden dragon scales, fierce and sharp claws, solemn and imposing eyes...
It dazzled with a golden brilliance, its divine might vast and majestic, and gave off a holy and untouchable domineering aura that reached high into the heavens and deep into the ground.
...It was a statue of the Dragon God!
At the moment, the area in front of the Dragon God statue was packed with people, ranging from the Dragon God Empire’s emperor all the way to the contestants in the competition...
All of them stood in front of the Dragon God statue, their demeanors solemn and dignified as they prayed piously. Even Meng Lei the husky1 among the wolves had no choice but to put on a pretense and mumble to himself.
“Ding! Assimilation successful. Host’s Physical Body Constitution +10,086!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. Host’s Magic Power 2,345!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. Host’s Wealth +6,666!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. You have obtained the Water-Elemental First-Class Spell, Disastrous Tsunami!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. You have obtained the Ice-Elemental First-Class Spell, Absolute Zero!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. You have obtained the Thunder-Elemental First-Class Spell, Three Thousand Strikes of Lightning!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. You have obtained the Metal—Elemental First-Class Spell, Ten Thousand Swords Return Home!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. You have obtained the Wood—Elemental First-Class Spell, Myriad of Nature!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. You have obtained a Thunder-Elemental Laws of Nature Fragment!”
“Ding! Congratulations to the host. You’ve obtained the Golden Colossal Dragon bloodline. Will you assimilate it?”
“Ding...”
As he listened to the system notifications constantly ringing out in his mind, Meng Lei was utterly delighted.
I was right in coming! I was right in coming here, indeed!
Ever since he had arrived
at the Dragon God Cathedral, the system notifications hadn’t paused for even a moment. Multi-colored light balls filled the place like soap bubbles, dense and packed. There was no way of counting their numbers at all.
They were either Physical Body Constitution, Magic Power, spell, or gold coin light balls!
He had even picked up quite a few bloodline light balls and Laws of Nature fragment light balls! If not for the fact that Meng Lei had already upgraded the system, hence he could now choose whether or not he wanted to assimilate the bloodlines, they would probably have already been assimilated into him and turned him into Ultraman!
“There are too many Saint Domains here today... There are probably at least 800 of them, if not 1,000! A force like that can practically destroy the world! The Dragon God Empire’s heritage is too fearsome...”
There was indeed an extraordinary number of bigwigs present on this day. Including the Empire’s emperor, princes, princesses, members of the royalty, nobles, high-ranking officials, academy leaders, and teachers-in-charge of the contestant teams...
There were no fewer than 100,000 people there!
Among the many present were also innumerable Saint Domain-level experts. Although they hadn’t deliberately given off an intimidating aura, nevertheless, with so many of them standing together, the energy fluctuations they vaguely gave off were still enough to silence the proud and defiant contestants.
Ten minutes later, the prayers ended.
The emperor, Frederick the 32nd, straightened his back and got up. A palace attendant brought forth a chair at once, and Frederick the 32nd settled into the seat.
Then, the palace attendant announced in a loud voice, “Bow to the Emperor!”
“Greetings, Your Majesty!” Everyone bowed in deference one by one.
The Saint Domains bent over at the waist and bowed down before the emperor, while all those below them got down on one knee.
“You may rise!” Frederick the 32nd declared with a light wave.
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
Then, everyone got back up.
“Today is the day that the quadrennial Empire-wide Inter-Academy Exchange Competition of The Elites officially begins. I’m looking forward to all the geniuses from the various major academies showing us their best in the exchange competition!”
Frederick the 32nd was a chubby middle-aged man. With a mild and gentle voice and a kind and amiable disposition, he looked just like a good-tempered uncle next door.
However, if one really thought so, then they would be dead wrong.
Frederick the 32nd—whose full name was Howard Frederick—was a history-making monster who was ranked 9th in the Dragon God Genius Ranking. He was also a pure-blooded Golden Colossal Dragon and currently a Saint Domain expert.
It was no exaggeration to say that underneath Frederick the 32nd’s mild and gentle exterior laid unfathomable depths of strength.
The reason why he currently seemed like an ordinary person was because the ruler of the empire had already reached a state so high that he’d returned to his true self. His fearsomeness was something that only people from the same era as him understood.
“A total of 7,848 contestants have joined the exchange competition this year, making the number higher than all the previous years. This shows that our empire has an abundance of talents, and the power it holds is prospering with each passing day. I am greatly comforted to know that!”
Frederick the 32nd’s gaze landed on the 7,000-odd contestants, and he said, “I hope that all of you can achieve excellent results in the upcoming competition and bring glory to yourself, your academy, your family, and your respective kingdoms!
“Someone, read my royal decree!”
Upon his command, a palace attendant took out a scroll and began to read it aloud, “By His Majesty’s royal decree! All those who rank in the top 50 positions of the exchange competition shall be conferred the title of a Viscount and bestowed a plot of land measuring 25 square kilometers, 50 servants, and a Saint Domain-level magic device!
“Those who rank in the top 20 positions of the exchange competition shall be conferred the title of an Earl and bestowed a plot of land measuring 50 square kilometers, 100 servants, a Saint Domain-level magic device, and five kilograms of elemental crystals!
“Those who rank in the top ten positions of the exchange competition shall be conferred the title of a Marquis and bestowed a plot of land measuring 250 square kilometers, 500 servants, a Saint Domain-level magic device, a Laws of Nature Origin Crystal, and 50 kilograms of elemental crystals!
“Those who rank in the top three positions of the exchange competition shall be conferred the title of a Duke and bestowed a plot of land measuring 500 square kilometers, 1,000 servants, ten Laws of Nature Origin Crystals, 500 kilograms of elemental crystals, and the right to a one-year residence in the Dragon Island!”
Whoaaa!
The attendant’s voice spread clearly throughout the whole place, despite not being very loud. Upon the announcement, an uproar went through the crowd. Everyone’s gazes shifted to the contestants, their eyes full of envy and jealousy.
The rewards this year were simply too much more generous than the previous years’.
The title of a Duke!
In the past, only the champions were conferred as Dukes, yet one needed only to enter the top three, and they would receive the title this year.
Laws of Nature Origin Crystals!
In the past, only the top three contestants would receive Origin Crystals, yet one could get them just by making it into the top ten this year. On top of that, they would even receive as many as ten of them.
Ten Laws of Nature Origin Crystals! Just how generous were the rewards?
After all, what were Laws of Nature Origin Crystals?
They were the key to the Saint Domain realm!
Just a tiny one alone would already be enough to help a ninth-grade expert open the doors to the Saint Domain realm. How many years of painstaking cultivation would that save a Ninth-Grade expert?
It could be said that Laws of Nature Origin Crystals held a lethal attraction to any ninth-grade expert. Any expert stuck at the pinnacle of ninth-grade and unable to advance any further would love to have one to help them to break through.
Unfortunately, how would something like that possibly be that easy to obtain?
As for the right to residence in Dragon Island, this was something that one daren’t even think about!
As the Holy Land of the Colossal Dragons and even the Dragon God Empire, traditionally, only pure-blooded Colossal Dragons and Saint Domain Dragon People were allowed to enter Dragon Island. How would ordinary people possibly be qualified to enter the island?
Even the champions didn’t receive a privilege like that during the past years of the competition!
Yet one needed only to make it into the top three positions, and they would receive the right to a one-year residence on the Dragon Island this year? This was practically... insane!
Your Majesty, are you out of your mind? Why are the rewards so generous this year?
“Those little fellows are simply too lucky this year!”
Some people were so jealous that their countenances were pretty much close to becoming altered beyond recognition. “Why weren’t the rewards this generous the last time?”
“What a loss! What a huge loss! If I’d known, I’d have joined the exchange competition this year no matter what...”
However, before all of this was even over, the attendant went on. “The champion shall be conferred a King and bestowed a plot of land measuring 5,000 square kilometers, 10,000 servants, 100 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals, 5,000 kilograms of elemental crystals, and permanent residence in Dragon Island!”
“What?!”
“Conferred a King?”
The entire venue was thrown into a huge furor at once!
Even the princes and princesses, as well as old-time Saint Domain experts, like President Fred and the others, wer
e astounded by this particular reward! Each and every one of them stared at the emperor in disbelief!
Conferred a King?
How many years had it been since the empire had last conferred someone a King?
Chapter 157: Establishing A Kingdom And Conferring A King, A Lost Continent
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
How many years had it been since the empire last conferred someone a King?
2,000 years? Or 3,000?
Many of them couldn’t help but try to recall… It seemed like the last time someone was conferred a King had been more than 2,000 years ago?
During that time, another dukedom was added to the Dragon God Empire, thereby increasing the number of affiliated dukedoms from a total of 47 to 48.
Even so, there were currently only 63 Kings in the empire, and they were respectively the rulers of the 15 kingdoms and 48 dukedoms.
Apart from them, there were no other rulers.
What? Couldn’t the emperor’s sons be conferred as Kings?
One would be dead wrong if that’s what they thought!
In the Dragon God Empire, the emperor’s sons were but just princes. No matter how outstanding they were, how strong they were, or how favored they were by the emperor, they were still just princes and had nothing whatsoever to do with being a King.
In the Dragon God Empire, the conferment of a King held special meaning—not only did the conferment mean that a new ruler was going to emerge in the empire, but it also meant that a new dukedom—or even a kingdom—would be added to the empire!
The territories occupied by dukedoms and kingdoms were far beyond the other nobles’ territories. Even if the emperor wished to confer someone as a King, he’d need to be able to provide the corresponding amount of land first.
Otherwise, the conferment would exist only in name.
Why is His Majesty suddenly conferring someone as a King?
Many of the high-ranking officials’ minds ran at lightning-quick speed as they mused over the emperor’s intentions. A lot of them were utterly confused, but a small group of officials who were on closer terms with the emperor did manage to guess his intentions.
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