Picking Up Attributes From Today c1-406
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“Is there anyone among the Dragons that’s poor?”
Bubbles replied affirmatively, “I’ve interacted with that Black Dragon before. That fellow’s the most avaricious Colossal Dragon that I’ve ever met. It solicits toll fees even for mere passage through its territory. It practically can’t get any greedier!”
“Avarice is great, avarice is fantastic! It’s only when one is avaricious that they would gain ample assets!” Meng Lei licked his lips as he said, “Let’s go! We’ll look for that greedy Black Dragon now!”
Under Bubbles’ lead, they arrived at the Black Dragon’s den in no time. Even from a great distance off, they could already hear a series of thunderous snores.
“Go get him, Bubbles!”
“Yes, Master!”
Bubbles nodded lightly and released a bit of his aura.
The snoring in the den came to a sudden stop, and then, a lazy voice rang out. “Passage through here will cost you 100 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals!”
“100 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals? That’s really greedy!” Meng Lei shook his head lightly.
Bubbles replied with a smile, “It wouldn’t have become known as the most avaricious half-deity of the underground world otherwise!”
Then, he said, “Is that how you should be treating an old friend, Baxter?”
“Eh?”
A soft sound of surprise later, a huge Dragon head poked out of the den. “So it’s you, the rapist. You’ll have to leave behind 1,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals as a toll before you can pass!”
Black lines filled Bubbles’ forehead as he retorted, “Do you believe me when I say that I’ll beat you up again if you malign me any further, Baxter?”
“Have you forgotten where you are again, Bubbles?”
Baxter, the Black Dragon, let out a dull, heavy snort as he scoffed, “This is the underground world, not your Fallen Sea. It’s no place for you to act so impudently!”
“Oh, he’s pretty arrogant!”
Meng Lei couldn’t help but chuckle softly.
“It can’t be helped! Although these wicked underground deities are all fierce and perverse in nature, they form an extremely united front when facing outsiders.”
A resigned Bubbles said, “I’ve fought that Black Dragon a few times before. Although it’s no match for me, that guy would always summon his friends as helping hands, so...”
“So, you’ve suffered at his hands a few times before? That’s great, then. We can avenge both new and old grudges at the same time!”
Meng Lei snickered as he rubbed his fists against each other in anticipation. “I don’t believe we can’t take down those despicable underground half-deities if we join hands! If we can subdue them and empty out their dens at the same time, then that would be even better!”
“Isn’t that a little too risky, Master?”
Bubbles was somewhat weak-kneed at the sound of that. “The vastness of the underground world is something that’s beyond your imagination. There are so many evil deities here that you can’t even count them on both hands!”
“The more, the better! Only then would things be interesting!”
Meng Lei licked his lips and flew straight out. “This is a robbery! This is a robbery! Gold coins, Laws of Nature Origin Crystals, divine cores, and treasures—hand them all over!”
“Roar! Where did that little bug come from!”
The Black Dragon opened its jaws and sprayed out a wave of dragon breath to melt and corrode Meng Lei, but with a flash, Meng Lei had arrived right in front of it!
“Baxter, right?”
Meng Lei gave him a slight smile and said, “I’ve taken a fancy to your den. Please scram immediately, and I’ll spare your little life, albeit reluctantly!”
“I’m going to eat you, you worm!”
Utterly enraged, the Black Dragon opened its cavernous jaws and bit right at him!
“Behave!”
Meng Lei gave a light snort as the Hammer of Destruction appeared in his grip. Aiming it right at the Black Dragon’s nose bridge, he swung it down forcefully!
With the power of a half-deity’s high-grade divine body, and coupled with the Hammer of Destruction’s fearsome destructiveness, a hole was smashed right into the Black Dragon’s nose bridge with a snap! Intense, severe pain assaulted his nerves, and the Black Dragon cried out in pain.
“C’mon out!”
Meng Lei grabbed the Black Dragon by the horns. Violent, raging power erupted, and he dragged the Black Dragon right out of its den before hurling it into the far distance!
“Is Master’s physical strength that terrifying?”
Bubbles was dumbfounded.
The Black Dragon, Baxter, was 6,000-feet-long and astonishingly heavy, yet Meng Lei could pick it up in one go. Just how physically strong must he be in order to do that?
As for Little Gold, it had long since been scared witless. In the instant it saw the Black Dragon, it was so frightened that it was shaking like a leaf and could barely suppress its fear.
After all, that was a half-deity!
However, what it found even more shocking and horrifying was that its Boss had actually thrown the Black Dragon out! How could that be?
“Kakaka, the den is mine now!”
Meng Lei let out a few strange cackles before diving into the den like a gust of wind.
“What the f*ck! So many gold coins! So many Laws of Nature Origin Crystals! I’ve struck gold! I’ve struck gold this time!
“Collect! Collect! Collect...”
After a period of frenzied collection, his Wealth spiked to 1.74 million Laws of Nature Origin Crystals. It had gone through a big round of fattening again!
“That Black Dragon’s assets are indeed ample!”
Only then did Meng Lei, who was in a fantastic mood, begin to collect the other treasures there leisurely.
The remaining treasures were mostly magic cores, magic crystals, and glittering jewels. If not, then they were various grand, lavish ornaments and art pieces from the human world. It was evident that this was one Black Dragon that knew how to enjoy life.
“Hmm? What’s this?”
Meng Lei spied a stone the color of blackish blood lying in an inconspicuous corner of the den. It was pitch-black in color, yet it shone with a blood-red glow.
The system’s icy voice suddenly rang out at this point.
“Ding! Dropped item discovered. Will you pick it up?”
“Yes, pick it up!”
“Ding! Assimilation successful. You have obtained the Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline. Will you assimilate it?”
“The... Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline?”
Meng Lei immediately contacted Dodola and asked, “Dodola, do you know of the Divine Netherworld Phoenix?”
“It’s a dark-elemental divine beast which hails from Hell. It possesses the Innate Special Ability ‘Rise From The Ashes’ and can be said to be immortal. The Netherworld Divine Fire unique to it is fairly terrifying and can even burn a higher deity dead!
“The Divine Netherworld Phoenix is also an extremely fearsome race in Hell, and the status they hold there is similar to that of the Fallen Angels of the Demon Realm.
“It’s just that it’s extremely difficult for a Divine Netherworld Phoenix to ascend, so it needs to rise from the ashes nine times in its lifetime before it can mature into the adult stage.”
“I see! Take a look at this!” said Meng Lei as he brought out the black stone.
“Eh?”
Dodola inspected the blackish-red stone closely. After a long while, it finally said, “If I’m not mistaken, this should be a Divine Netherworld Phoenix’s phoenix marrow.”
“A phoenix marrow?”
Startled, Meng Lei asked, “What the heck is that?”
“When a Divine Netherworld Phoenix fails in its rebirth, it leaves behind something known as a phoenix marrow, within which contains its blood essence and leftover life essence post-burning.”
Dodol
a explained, “This thing is a great source of nourishment for the Divine Netherworld Phoenixes, but it’s absolutely useless to you. You can just toss it!”
“Got it!”
After exiting the Tower of Time, Meng Lei promptly instructed, “System, assimilate the Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline!”
“Ding! Assimilating the Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline now!”
“Ding! Assimilation unsuccessful.”
“Ding! Primeval Bloodline activation condition has been triggered. Will you activate your Primeval Bloodline?”
“Primeval Bloodline? What’s that?
“Never mind, I’ll just activate it first!”
Whoosh!
His Wealth instantly shrank by 100 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals.
“Ding! Primeval Bloodline activation successful.”
Host: Meng Lei
Race: Human (Primeval Bloodline: Primordial Human <10%>, Assimilated Bloodline: Gods-Slaying Rat <100%>)
Others: Some increase
Chapter 225: The World Genesis Plane, Netherworld Divine Fire
“The Primordial Human bloodline?”
A puzzled Meng Lei stared at the stats interface. He was a human, so it was easily understandable why he would possess the human bloodline.
But what was a Primordial Human?
Were they this body’s ancestors?
“Aren’t you going to explain, system?”
There was no response from the system. Left with no other choice, Meng Lei could only approach Dodola.
“The Primordial Humans? Where did you hear of them from?” Dodola was greatly surprised.
“From some random place!”
Meng Lei made up some ridiculous answer on the spot.
“The Primordial Humans are a legendary race that has died out over the long course of time. Most typical people wouldn’t know of them!”
Dodola side-eyed Meng Lei with an expression that said, “Go on with your stories, I’m watching”.
“So, you know of the Primordial Humans?”
Meng Lei quickly asked, “Since you do, then hurry up and tell me about them. Stop jabbering so much!”
“There’s not a single truth out of your mouth all the time!”
Dodola grumbled before it explained, “Speaking of Primordial Humans, we have to go way back into the past. It’s said that during the very beginning of the vast universe, only a single existential plane had been born.”
“A single existential plane?”
Meng Lei was startled to hear that.
“Yes, just a single existential plane!”
Dodola said, “That existential plane is the legendary World Genesis Plane!
“It’s said that the first living beings came into existence after a long period of time and evolution after the birth of the World Genesis Plane. They are also the very first batch of living beings in the vast universe.
“These beings were incomparably powerful. They either had fearsome divine bodies, or controlled powerful special abilities, or were born with the innate ability to control supreme laws of nature.
“Strong! Fearsome! Supreme! Every adjective that can be used to describe greatness and nobleness can be used on them!”
Dodola turned to Meng Lei. It said, “It’s said that this batch of beings are the ancestors of all living beings that came after, and the Primordial Humans are exactly one of them.”
Meng Lei asked, “What happened after that?”
“Later on, this group of beings reproduced, strengthened, and developed to the pinnacle of their existence before a great war broke out in the end. The war lasted until it broke the World Genesis Plane,” replied Dodola leisurely.
“They broke the World Genesis Plane?”
Meng Lei was dumbfounded. The eruption of the great war didn’t come as a surprise to him. Conflicts went wherever people were; this was unavoidable anywhere in the world.
What did surprise him was that they had actually broken even the World Genesis Plane! Just how intense must that war have been?
“Yes, that’s right! The World Genesis Plane was broken, and it splintered into countless fragments.”
Dodola nodded lightly as it went on. “The two largest fragments evolved and developed into the two most supreme existential planes of now—the Netherworld and the Celestial Realm—while the other fragments respectively evolved into the other high-end existential planes and innumerable ordinary existential planes!”
“What happened to those beings?” asked Meng Lei curiously.
“The ones that died, died; the ones that were wiped out, were wiped out; and the ones that managed to flee, fled. The lucky ones who managed to survive relocated to the Netherworld, the Celestial Realm, and other existential planes before ultimately gradually increasing in numbers to become the living beings of now.
“Among which, the human race is the descendants of the Primordial Humans. It’s just that as time went by, the humans’ bloodline also became thinner and thinner, just like other races. Thus, they are no longer as powerful as the Primordial Humans.”
“So the Primordial Humans really are the humans’ ancestors!” murmured Meng Lei to himself.
His current body was a human and contained the human ancestors’ bloodline—this was undoubtedly true.
However, what Meng Lei hadn’t expected was that the humans’ ancestors actually had such an influential background!
That was rather surprising!
“Legends are ultimately just legends, so just take it as a story. Don’t you take it as the truth!”
A smiling Dodola said, “Pure Primordial Humans have ceased to exist since a long time ago. In fact, the World Genesis Plane itself is a legend, not to mention the living beings that it had birthed!”
“Just a legend, huh...”
Meng Lei couldn’t help but look at his stats interface.
Race: Human (Primeval Bloodline: Primordial Human <16%>, Assimilated Bloodline: Gods-Slaying Rat <100%>)
Evidently, the Primordial Human bloodline truly existed, thereby proving that the Primordial Humans had definitely once existed!
Or rather, they had once appeared before.
This was enough to serve as an explanation for some questions!
“‘Primordial Human bloodline <16%>’! In other words, I can buy credit for it?”
A contemplative Meng Lei asked in a low voice, “How much does it cost to buy credit for the Primordial Human bloodline, system?”
“Ding! Raising the Primordial Human bloodline by 1% requires 100 million Divinity Crystals,” replied the system coldly.
“100 million... Divinity Crystals?!”
It instantly left Meng Lei flabbergasted. He’d guessed that it would be very expensive, but he hadn’t expected the price to be that ridiculous. “Expensive” could no longer cut it; it was totally an astronomical sum!
1 Divinity Crystal = 10,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals
In that case, how many Laws of Nature Origin Crystals would 100 million Divinity Crystals be?
Meng Lei couldn’t be bothered to do the calculations anymore. In any case, he couldn’t afford it!
“This indirectly reflects how insane the Primordial Human bloodline is, however! If I can buy enough credit to boost it to 100%, I can probably walk the world unhindered?”
With a shake of his head, Meng Lei exited the Tower of Time. His gaze fell onto the blood-black stone.
“My assimilation of the Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline had failed just now, but it should be able to succeed now, right?”
“System, assimilate the Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline!”
“Ding! Assimilating the Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline now!”
Boom!
Inky, pitch-black flames suddenly arose and instantly engulfed Meng Lei, burning his clothes into ashes everywhere they went.
Boom!
Severe pain assaulted his nerves like tidal waves that could topple the mountains and overturn the se
as. Meng Lei felt as if the flesh and blood all over him were on fire!
Blazing every inch of him!
Roasting every piece of him!
Boiling every part of him!
Wisps of black smoke arose from the top of Meng Lei’s head. Thousands upon thousands of black flames cruised through his limbs and body like innumerable nimble and agile dragons, modifying every cell, every inch of flesh and blood, every organ...
Screeeech!
All of a sudden...!
A crisp, loud, and sonorous cry abruptly rang out, and the hologram of a gigantic bird appeared above Meng Lei. An inky black all over and covered in black plumes, it had a cockatoo-like head and a snake-like neck, as well as a strong jaw and a raised back...
It craned its neck and let out a sonorous cry into the sky!
Sound waves rolled as vast, mighty divine power spread into the surroundings!
Splurt!
Splurt!
Amid bone-chilling splurts, black plumes began to sprout from Meng Lei. In just a split second, he was already covered from head to toe in black feathers!
Right on the heels of it, a pair of wings sprouted from Meng Lei’s back. Then, as if a balloon being inflated, it began to grow in size. In just a short two to three breaths, they had become three to four meters long!
The black flames gradually subsided back into his body at this point, while the pain and agony also slowly ebbed away like the receding tide. Meng Lei clenched his fist—his strength had increased again!
Meng Lei murmured to himself, “So, this is the Divine Netherworld Phoenix bloodline?”
With just a mere thought, a dancing flame—pitch-black like ink, bewitching, proud, and aloof—immediately appeared on his fingertip.
“The Netherworld Divine Fire!”
With a flick of his fingers, the flame shot out and landed on a large rock.
The large rock reacted like dry firewood to the blazing fire and began to burn right away.
“As expected of the Netherworld Divine Fire that can burn even a higher deity to death! It’s indeed terrifying!”
Meng Lei let out a sigh of marvel before he then looked at his stats interface.
Host: Meng Lei
Race: Human (Primeval Bloodline: Primordial Human <16%>