Picking Up Attributes From Today
chapter-187

Chapter 187: Holy Knight Order, The Empire’s Half-Deity

“Attacking the seal?”

Meng Lei was bewildered.

“Can’t you tell?”

With a severe look on his face, Ol’ Amos explained gravely, “The divine tree fruits are just bait—bait that it tossed out in order to lure contestants like you. What’s tragic is that many of the contestants had actually fallen for it! Thus, they are now trapped within the seal, unable to escape!”

“And then?”

“In order to rescue them, the empire will definitely send experts to attack the seal, ultimately rescuing the Tree of Life and releasing it, too.

“A conspiracy! This is a total conspiracy from the start to the very end!”

Meng Lei hurriedly asked, “What will happen if the Tree of Life breaks the seal, Ol’ President?”

“Isn’t that obvious?” Ol’ Amos barked, “What do you think will happen when a sealed half-deity is freed?”

Meng Lei couldn’t help but shiver at the thought.

“Meng Lei, you must stop them from attacking the seal at once. Otherwise, it’ll lead to a great disaster!”

“Stop them?”

Meng Lei was hesitant. He couldn’t wait to escape and go far, far away from the Tree of Life at the moment. Yet he was telling him to stop those guys?

“The Tree of Life is currently sealed, so the degree of risk has been greatly reduced.” Ol’ Amos said gravely, “What you need to do is just to stop them. If nothing goes wrong, it won’t be dangerous.”

“Alright!”

As he went nearer and nearer, the view also became clearer and clearer.

The Tree of Life’s branches were too thick, too tall—taller and thicker than any great mountains that Meng Lei had ever seen.

Its crown was too large, too lush—just like a gigantic halo, it enveloped the sky within 10,000 miles of where it was.

Big, tall, lofty, and majestic! Vast and extensive!

“Who’d have thought that a massive life form like that actually exists in the world? Nature is indeed miraculous!” Meng Lei was thoroughly astounded. “And what’s even more inconceivable is that someone has actually sealed a fearsome life form like that!”

As he got nearer and nearer, the view also became clearer and clearer.

Branches flourished from the Tree of Life, leafy and lush. And amid the luxuriant leaves bore an abundance of golden fruits.

A quick glance revealed that the tree was filled with them.

“Just how many divine tree fruits are there? And just how much will I earn if I sell them all?”

Meng Lei swallowed hard, suddenly understanding why so many contestants had been lured there.

Given the numerous divine tree fruits on it, just how great of an allure did it pose?

Who would be able to resist it?

Nobody at all!

At last, he came close to it.

A mountainous ridge when viewed horizontally and a high peak when viewed from the side; far, near, high, and low, different from every angle.

Why couldn’t one tell the true form of Mount Lu?

For they stand within, part of the mountain they have become[1].

At this point, it was no longer possible for him to get a full view of the Tree of Life. All that entered one’s sight was just a big, tall, and rough wall—the Tree of Life’s trunk!

Wrapped all around the surface of the trunk was an infinite number of chains formed from golden magic sigils. Like a fishing net, they wrapped all around the tree.

The chains spread out, ultimately forming another golden shield around the Tree of Life and sealing it within.

At the same time, the golden shield also trapped almost a hundred unfortunate souls within—in other words, the hundred-odd contestants that had also been sealed inside.

Floating outside the golden shield were thousands of people. Aside from a few dozen contestants, the rest were all broadsword-wielding, beast-riding golden-armored knights!

“Where did these guys come from?”

Meng Lei stared at the golden-armored knights, somewhat puzzled.

“Judging from their gear, they are likely the Royal Holy Knight Order.” Ol’ Amos replied, “The Royal Holy Knight Order is the empire’s most elite troops. Even the weakest among them possesses ninth-grade pinnacle-level strength.”

“Why are they here?”

Meng Lei was puzzled. Weren’t the contestants supposed to be the only ones on the Lost Continent?

“If I’m not wrong, the Royal Holy Knight Order is in charge of protecting the contestants’ safety during the exchange competition.” Ol’ Amos instructed, “Get them to stop, Meng Lei. If they continue to attack, they’ll break the seal sooner or later!”

At the moment, be it the Holy Knight Order or the 100-odd contestants inside the shield, all of them were fervently attacking the golden shield.

Every attack from them caused the golden shield to reverberate intensely, which in turn caused the entire continent to shake along with it—it seemed like the seal was connected to the whole continent itself.

“Alright, I know what to do now.”

Meng Lei nodded slightly. Then, he took a deep breath and shouted, “Stop attacking, everyone! Listen to what I have to say!”

His voice wasn’t very loud, but it reached everyone clearly. Everyone stopped attacking one by one and turned to him.

“Meng Lei!”

Someone who recognized him called out his name.

“Who’s he?”

However, there were more of them that didn’t know who he was, and all of them broke into frowns.

“Stop attacking, everyone. Listen to me first!”

As the puzzled crowd gazed at him, Meng Lei said, “All of you can sense the divine power that this huge tree here is giving off, right? That’s right. This tree is a half-deity!”

“A half-deity?”

A jolt went through some of them as their countenances changed dramatically. All of them were just weak contestants that didn’t have any idea of the Tree of Life’s background.

However, the rest of them—in particular, the Royal Holy Knight Order—showed practically no response to his words. Evidently, they were already aware of the Tree of Life’s background since a long time ago.

Or perhaps they’d determined its identity based on the divine power that the Tree of Life emanated.

After all, its mighty divine power was right there for all to see. It wasn’t hard for them to make the judgment.

Meng Lei continued and said, “But this half-deity has evidently been sealed. That’s why we can stand here safely right now!”

Then, he changed the course of the conversation and said, “But what are all of you doing? You’re attacking the seal! And helping it to break out of its seal! Aren’t you afraid that by destroying the seal, you’ll really set the Tree of Life free?”

Nobody had anything to say to that.

In particular, all the knights of the Royal Holy Knight Order sank into total silence. Evidently, they were aware of what they were doing and also knew the consequences of their actions.

“Therefore, I hope that everyone can cease their attacks at once.”

Meng Lei’s voice was low and grave as he said, “Once the Tree of Life breaks the seal, all of us will die! Nobody will be able to escape! That’s all I have to say! Think about it yourselves!”

Then, Meng Lei turned, ready to leave. He didn’t know what they would do after hearing what he had to say, but that was all he could do.

Now that he’d fulfilled his objective, it was time to leave.

“Sir, we fully understand what you’re saying.”

A Golden Colossal Dragon Person dressed in royal armor stepped forward at this point. He had a pair of golden horns on his head and a pair of golden wings on his back.

As he pointed at the Tree of Life trapped within the golden shield, he said slowly, “We know that it’s a half-deity life form, and we also know that we’re currently attacking the seal, but we have no other choice.

“Our mission is to ensure the safety of every contestant and eradicate all external forces that interfere with the exchange competition. Therefore, it is our duty to protect every contestant.

“However, more than 100 contestants are currently trapped. In fact, they are sharing the same space with the half-deity Tree of Life. Their safety has come under serious threat.

“We must rescue them and ensure their safety while also ensuring that the exchange competition is running smoothly. This is our mission as well as our duty!”

“But by doing so, you’ll bring harm to everyone!”

Meng Lei was mildly taken aback. Just as he was about to persuade him further, Ol’ Amos’ voice suddenly rang out. “Look, Meng Lei! Your little princess housemate seems to be in there, too!”

Meng Lei hurriedly looked over. True enough, he spotted Abbe among those 100-odd contestants!

She stood behind the contestants, quietly watching him. Upon noticing his line of sight, she lowered her head at once.

“Abbe…”

Meng Lei was dismayed.

“There are also quite a few other familiar faces in there aside from her.”

Ol’ Amos went on. “That Netherworld White Tiger Person, Francis from the Fire Dragon Kingdom, and even that pure-blooded Golden Colossal Dragon prince…

“No wonder the Royal Holy Knight Order is attacking the seal so desperately. To think the future emperor is also trapped inside!”

“So many of them…”

Meng Lei couldn’t help but gasp.

“Actually, you don’t need to worry, sir.” The Golden Colossal Dragon Person spoke up again. He said, “We’ve already reported the situation to His Majesty. I believe that in no time, His Majesty will dispatch experts here to destroy that evil half-deity treant!”

“The empire’s experts?” Meng Lei was startled. “Can the empire’s experts stand against a half-deity?”

“Typical experts definitely can’t, unless it’s a half-deity.” Ol’ Amos nodded and said, “If a half-deity really comes forward, then dealing with that Tree of Life won’t be a problem. I’m just afraid that the Emperor can’t get them to do it.”

“Is there also a half-deity in the Dragon God Empire?” Meng Lei was a little startled. “Why haven’t I heard anyone mentioning it before?”

“Duh! If the great Dragon God Empire didn’t have a half-deity presence, it’d have been destroyed by other empires a long time ago!”

Ol’ Amos scoffed derisively and said, “And it’s not just the Dragon God Empire. The Titan Empire, the Beast People Empire, the Fairy Empire, and even some ancient clans living in seclusion—all of them have half-deity presences among them.

“It’s just that half-deities, as existences that stand above Saint Domains and below deities, represent the strongest form of combat power in Heaven’s Vault Continent. They usually only exist as strategic deterrents.

“In most typical situations, half-deities tend to stay behind the scenes. Unless situations such as the empire facing the threat of subjugation arise, they almost never make an appearance.”

“I see!” Realization dawned upon Meng Lei, who then asked, “Ol’ President, what did you mean when you said that His Majesty might not be able to get the half-deity to come forward?”

“The emperor can command ordinary Saint Domains, but if he wants to request something of a half-deity… It’s a hard task to achieve!” Ol’ Amos said dispassionately, “In truth, even a Saint Domain limits-level expert can ignore the emperor if they want to.”

Meng Lei shook his head lightly as he remarked, “Looks like not even the emperor is almighty.”

“Almighty? You’re thinking too much.”

Ol’ Amos was rather disdainful as he said, “Heaven’s Vault Continent is ultimately a world where the strong rule. Power will always come first and foremost.

“Status is but just something that comes with power.

“There are many experts in the Dragon God Empire who don’t fear the emperor at all. In fact, even the emperor has to bow respectfully in greeting when he meets the Dragon Kings who stand above the Saint Domain realm and the half-deities.

“Remember this—in the Dragon God Empire, there is no lack of people who can be the emperor, but there are only so many Dragon Kings and half-deities. You can do without an emperor, but you can’t do without a Dragon King or a half-deity!”

“In other words, whether the empire’s half-deity will make an appearance or not depends on whether they’ll act on account of the emperor?”

Meng Lei was rendered speechless.

“Exactly! After all, most half-deities are striving hard for the goal of deification. To them, time is even more valuable than Laws of Nature Origin Crystals. Where are they going to find the time to bother with trifling matters like this?”

Ol’ Amos shook his head.

“What should we do, then?”

“What should we do? Leave, of course!”

Ol’ Amos snorted and said, “It goes back to the same thing—a gentleman does not put himself in harm’s way. Whether or not the empire’s half-deity comes, you have to ensure your safety first and foremost!

“I’m reminding you—your little princess housemate may be beautiful and gorgeous, but she’s not worth you putting yourself in danger yet!”

“Ol’ President, you must’ve been a cold and heartless scumbag when you were young, right?”

Meng Lei couldn’t stop himself from rolling his eyes.

“A scumbag? Please, I’m a lifelong bachelor!”

[1] Written on the Wall At West Forest Temple, a poem by Su Shi