In the center of Eternal Island sat a lake. There was a small island inside the lake, which was home to an extravagant palace.
Birds sang amid the fragrant, blooming flowers. The refreshing fragrance of flowers suffused the air around; it was the perfect paradise.
The doors of the palace were wide open. Deep in the palace sat a gorgeous lady with two tender antennas on her forehead. It was similar to those of a Namekian[1]. Other than that, she was no different than an ordinary person.
This beautiful lady was the Chief God of the Earth Divine Realm’s Eternal Gods—Chief God Vados.
There were ten Chief Gods in the Earth Divine Realm—six lesser Chief Gods, three intermediate Chief Gods, and one higher Chief God.
Chief God Vados was that higher Chief God and probably the strongest and most talented. She enjoyed the most venerable status in the Earth Divine Realm.
It was common knowledge that for a Chief God to progress, they would need to either assimilate Chief God divine cores or comprehend the supreme laws of nature. Since the Chief God divine cores were near-impossible to obtain, comprehension of supreme laws of nature became the only route to the next level.
A lesser Chief God only needed to comprehend a fraction of the supreme laws of nature to become an intermediate Chief God.
An intermediate Chief God only needed to comprehend half of the supreme laws of nature to become a higher Chief God.
Hence, a lesser Chief God had no comprehension of supreme laws of nature, an intermediate Chief God comprehended some supreme laws of nature, and a higher Chief God comprehended half of the supreme laws of nature.
This was different from Ancient Gods—a low-level Ancient God had no comprehension of laws of nature, so they were weaker than a Chief God. A mid-level Ancient God comprehended some supreme laws of nature, thus matching a lesser Chief God. A high-level Ancient God comprehended half of the supreme laws of nature, thus matching an intermediate Chief God. A Supreme Ancient God had a complete comprehension of the supreme laws of nature, thus matching a higher Chief God.
Hence, the difference a Chief God divine core could make was immense. It could either level the difference between a Chief God and a Great Perfection deity or pull away from that distance between them.
As a higher Chief God, Vados was an extraordinary prodigy who was already halfway through in her comprehension of the supreme laws of nature. She was an incredibly powerful existence amongst the Chief Gods.
If she could completely comprehend the life laws of nature, she would become the fifth ever Juggernaut of the universe, on an equal footing with the other four Juggernauts.
For this day to come sooner, Vados stayed in the Eternal Lake all year round to comprehend the tremendous life laws of nature. Without any accidents, she rarely stepped out of the Eternal Lake while no one dared to disturb her.
This day, however, Chief God Vados was disturbed as colorful light beams dazzled from a mural in the palace abruptly.
In the next moment, a burly figure stumbled out of the mural and dropped onto his knees in front of Chief God Vados.
“Greetings, Your Holiness!”
Vados opened her eyes slowly. Her sapphire eyes were like a mysterious sea gleaming with deep secrets. She broke into a frown as she gazed at the burly figure kneeling on the floor.
“Nidhogg, what matter made you lose your cool like this? You’re a Chief God. There’s no need to bow to me.” Her voice was slightly hoarse.
“Your Holiness, you have to avenge me!” Nidhogg looked in pain. “I was killed brutally by a knave, and he took away my Chief God divine core. Now, I’m only left with this remnant soul. How am I still a Chief God?”
“You were killed?” Vados sprung up as a gleam flashed in his eyes. “Who dared to hunt down a Chief God?”
“It was a Supreme Great Perfection deity!”
Nidhogg’s eyes were blood-red as he recounted everything that had happened and ended off by saying, “That knave has completely comprehended the time-based laws of nature, so he’s really strong! I hope Your Holiness can report this to the four Juggernauts to open the Chief God Tribunal to take this knave down and do justice for us!”
“Completely comprehended the time-based laws of nature?”
Vados’ expression changed quickly. “How is this possible? The time-based laws of nature are the publicly acknowledged hardest of the five supreme laws of nature. Even the cultivation method is unknown to this day. How could he comprehend it and even in its entirety?”
“It’s true, Your Holiness!”
At that moment, two other figures dashed out of the mural—the Titan Chief God and the Angel Chief God killed by Meng Lei previously.
Although they were not like Nidhogg, whose face was full of tears and snot, their eyes were red as well. “This knave has indeed comprehended the time-based laws of nature!”
“...”
Vados went silent as torrential waves surged and churned in her heart. She could never have imagined that someone could comprehend or even fully comprehend the time-based laws of nature. It was simply ridiculous.
After a long silence, Vados finally said slowly, “To be able to completely comprehend the time-based laws of nature means that the opponent’s capability has reached unbelievable heights, which I cannot handle alone. Since it’s come to this, I can only report to the four Juggernauts and open the Chief God Tribunal.”
“How wise, Your Holiness!”
...
As the Divinity Crystals, Laws of Nature Origin Crystals, and other things that the system could receive were collected from the treasury, Meng Lei’s wealth surged once again.
Meng Lei swept a glance at the stats interface and put up a satisfied smile.
Afterward, he started collecting a dazzling array of items like divine weapons, precious herbs, and medicines, and other treasures as Puhaman and the rest watched on.
Many treasures were immensely valuable to their cultivation, like the Crystallized Divine Spirit Extracts and Soul Ice Marrows that could enhance their divine spirits.
These things were useless for Meng Lei, thus benefiting Puhaman and the others. Meng Lei waved his arm and split these treasures among them.
“Thank you, Master!”
“Thank you, Master!”
Puhaman and the rest were ecstatic as they kept the treasures and divine weapons while they directly consumed the Crystallized Divine Spirit Extracts.
Boom, boom, boom!
They were higher deities with powerful divine spirits. Thus the effect of the Crystallized Divine Spirit Extract was not obvious. It was overwhelming due to the quantity nevertheless.
As large amounts of Crystallized Divine Spirit Extracts were consumed, their divine spirits were enhanced at a speed visible to the naked eye.
Elementary-level higher deity...
Middle-level higher deity...
High-level higher deity!
Once all the Crystallized Divine Spirit Extracts were finished, Puhaman, Fatty Hart, Thaniel, Bubbles, Mervyn, Pursuer, Nadja, Seisia, Galen, the Spider Goddess, the Dark Fairy Empress, the Dark Snapping Turtle King, and Sacas had all enhanced their divine spirits to the level of a high-level higher deity.
They were all high-level higher deities!
This was normal since it was the Nidhogg Colossal Dragon Gods’ accumulation of Crystallized Divine Spirit Extracts for the usage by tens of thousands of their clans’ experts. It would be natural to possess an unimaginable amount of them.
Emery Philmore watched quietly from the side. He was so full of envy and jealousy that his features became distorted.
He wanted to become one of them badly and receive the same rewards. It was only a pity that Meng Lei had not yet seen Emery as his follower. Hence, these treasures were naturally not meant for Emery.
“Haha, I feel so powerful!”
“My divine cognition can now spread to 10 million kilometers easily!”
“This enhancement is really great...”
The way that they released their divine spirit energy waves in an unbridled manner attracted the attention of the Nidhogg Colossal Dragon Gods. Numerous figures shot out from everywhere around the mountains to surround the group.
“Who are you?”
“How bold of you to trespass into our Nidhogg Colossal Dragon Gods headquarters!”
“Come! Take down these knaves!”
This was the Nidhogg Colossal Dragon Gods’ headquarters, where almost all of the clan’s experts were gathered. Out of which, there was no lack of high-level higher deities and even super experts, who were extremely close to Great Perfection deities.
Tens of thousands of experts surrounded them, blotting out the sky and covering the earth!
[1] [Annotation text missing]
Chapter 397: Space Exchange, Ten Thousand-Tentacled Serpent
Fury filled the Nidhogg clansmen! Immense fury!
This was their, the Nidhogg clan’s, headquarters, a place that even people from the clan such as themselves didn’t dare to enter so casually, let alone a bunch of thieves.
Yet that same bunch of thieves that had popped out of nowhere was doing as they pleased in the Colossal Dragon Mountain and burglarizing their Nidhogg clan treasury! This was unforgivable!
“Kill them!”
“Kill those thieves! Show them the consequences of making trouble here!”
Boom, boom, boom!
Trillions of Nidhogg clansmen attacked at once. Various attacks pelted Meng Lei and the others from all directions as though meteors shooting across the sky.
The attacks’ terrifying might and momentum, as well as their fearsome, all-engulfing destructiveness, made Puhaman and the others’ expressions change greatly.
They cried out in their minds, “Help, Master!”
Although they had become significantly stronger, they nevertheless had no chance of withstanding attacks from trillions of people. Thus, they could only pin their hopes on their noble master.
Meng Lei did not disappoint. Two soft, gentle golden light rays surged forth from his eyes, sweeping across the terrifying attacks that filled the sky. He uttered, “Time Freeze!”
Buzz!
Time instantly froze for everything that entered his sight. The attacks also froze in mid-air and became completely still.
“Here, I’ll return these attacks to all of you!”
Meng Lei toned down the gentle golden light in his eyes. What replaced them was instead an incredibly bright and dazzling silver light. Then, he uttered, “Space Exchange!”
The very next second, Meng Lei and the others instantly vanished from where they were, whereas the trillions of Nidhogg clansmen instead bizarrely showed up at where Meng Lei and the others had previously been.
The two parties... had exchanged positions!
Meng Lei then dispelled Time Freeze, upon which the waves of attacks continued to sweep forward at once.
“What’s going on?”
“No... No!”
“Run!”
Boom!
Run?
There was no way they could, of course!
The avalanche of attacks instantly engulfed the Nidhogg clansmen, and they bore the full brunt of their own attacks amid despair, fear, shock, and indignation.
Smoke and dust swirled about as fiery sparks flew.
Thunder rumbled, and lightning flashed as chilly ice twinkled in the light.
“This...”
“How did that happen?”
“How did you do that, Master?”
Stupefied, Puhaman and the others stared dazedly at the Nidhogg clansmen who were currently being engulfed by their own attacks. Why were the other party’s attacks blasting themselves instead?
“Through the use of spatial laws of nature.”
A calm smile appeared on Meng Lei’s lips as he said, “I need only to switch the space we occupy with the enemy’s and exchange our positions, and they’ll unavoidably suffer their own attacks.”
“Spatial laws of nature!”
“No wonder it’s so powerful!”
“So, it’s actually spatial laws of nature!”
Realization dawned upon Puhaman and the others, and their admiration and worship of Meng Lei grew even stronger. First time-based laws of nature, and now spatial laws of nature. To think their master had actually comprehended two types of supreme laws of nature! He was simply too impressive, too grand and noble.
The smoke and dust gradually dispersed, and the sky returned to its original state.
Puhaman and the others were stunned at the sight before their eyes. Countless Nidhogg clansmen had perished. They were either blasted into dust, blown into pieces, left with half their body, or missing an arm or a leg. The minority whose bodies were still intact were also riddled with wounds.
The battlefield was an extremely tragic sight.
% of them had died on the spot, while 39% of them were maimed.
The remaining 1%, who were the strongest of the lot, was more or less unscathed, but all of them had already been taken over by shock and horror in this instant.
They had clearly been attacking Meng Lei and the others, yet they had ended up being engulfed by their own attacks in the end.
This was simply too horrifying, too frightening, and too bizarre!
“How did this happen?”
Shock and horror filled the bloodshot eyes of a super expert who was infinitely close to becoming a Great Perfection deity. His shock was because the situation with the attacks just now had been simply too bizarre, while his fury was because the Nidhogg clan had suffered immensely great casualties and fatalities.
Indeed!
The clan’s many experts were the mainstays of the clan that they had accumulated over a long passage of time. They were an important military force that they, the Nidhogg clan, had depended on in order to dominate the Earth Divine Realm.
Yet, they had almost been annihilated. How could this possibly not shock or anger him?
“Who exactly are all of you?!”
The super expert glared furiously at Meng Lei and the others. He demanded, “Aren’t you afraid that our great Chief God will seek revenge upon you for provoking and humiliating the Nidhogg clan like this?!”
“The Chief God’s revenge? Hah!” A slight smile appeared on Meng Lei’s countenance as he said, “I’m afraid I’ll have to disappoint you because it’s impossible for your great Chief God to ever return.”
“What?”
The super expert was taken aback by Meng Lei’s response.
Meng Lei, however, couldn’t be bothered to explain. A Netherworld Spear shot out of nowhere, instantly piercing through the area in between the super expert’s brows and killing him on the spot.
“Grand Elder!!”
At the sight, immense fury filled the remaining Nidhogg clansmen. Their eyes were full of hatred as they glared at Meng Lei. They shouted, “We’ll fight it out with him! We must avenge the Grand Elder!”
It was just a shame that before they could even charge toward Meng Lei, they instead welcomed an overwhelming number of Netherworld Spears. Countless tricolored spears engulfed the remaining experts like a densely packed rain of arrows.
Stab, stab, stab!
A round of spears later, all of them were dead.
“I’ll leave the rest to you guys,” instructed Meng Lei before he left.
“Wahaha!”
Puhaman and the others exchanged looks, and then, they got down to work right away. All the Nidhogg experts might be dead, but their divine cores and spatial rings were still around. These were treasures!
“Stop grabbing them!”
“Don’t anyone dare fight with me for them!”
“I’ll fight whoever fights me for them!”
Thus, a grand treasure-grabbing party ensued while Meng Lei headed toward the highest point of the
mountain peak where the Nidhogg Chief God’s personal treasury was.
A majestic palace stood erect at the mountain peak—it was none other than the Nidhogg Chief God’s shrine. Fully crafted from the most expensive Divinity Stones in the Divine Realms, the hall was grand and lavish, extravagant and eye-dazzling. Dozens of divine beast statues lined the sides while a grand throne sat in the deepest depths of the place.
The entire shrine was incredibly lavish and extravagant, but Meng Lei wasn’t interested in these in the least. Instead, he walked straight toward the throne, stopped right in front of it, and pressed a switch on it.
Krak, krak, krak...
The area in front of the throne lit up to reveal a teleportation magic circle. Meng Lei stepped into the magic circle and disappeared from the shrine. By the time he reappeared, he had arrived in an odd and unusual dimension.
The dimension wasn’t very big, stretching only for roughly 100 kilometers or so. One could see right to the end in one glance. The place was empty and didn’t house any lifeforms at all.
This particular dimension could only be considered an alternate dimension at the very best. It didn’t even count as a half-plane. However, it was in no way ordinary because the Nidhogg Chief God’s personal treasury was located right here.
As a Chief God, one of the loftiest existences in the whole wide universe, not a lot of treasures could make the cut in the Nidhogg Chief God’s eyes. Thus, there weren’t a lot of treasures in the alternate dimension. Dozens of boxes of varying sizes were placed on top of one another in stacks, making the place appear exceptionally shabby and dowdy.
Meng Lei was a little disappointed. Nevertheless, he still walked over to the first box and began to check it out. He opened the box, revealing a crystal ball within.
“Ding! Dropped item discovered. Will you pick it up?”
The system’s notification abruptly rang out at this point.
Surprised, Meng Lei then noticed a grayish light ball sitting quietly in front of the crystal ball.
“Yes, pick it up!”
“Ding! Pickup successful. You have obtained the Ten Thousand-Tentacled Serpent bloodline. Will you assimilate it?”
Picking Up Attributes From Today c1-406 Page 246
