Picking Up Attributes From Today
chapter-256

Chapter 256: The Goddess Issues A Holy Decree, The Elemental Being Is Born

The Fairy Empire was located in the southern borders of Heaven’s Vault Continent. Overlooking the Magical Beast Ridge in the north and facing the Endless Oceans to the south, it was the one and only country completely covered in forests among the four major empires.

These expansive forests that weren’t inferior to the Magical Beast Ridge in the least were the famous Fairy Forests. As they were connected to the Magical Beast Ridge, Magical Beasts also roamed the Fairy Forests.

Innumerable Fairy tribes dwelt in the forest, sharing the space with the woods and the Magical Beasts. It should have been a very dangerous place by right, but the reality was that the Magical Beasts didn’t attack the Fairy tribes at all. Instead, they formed a protective barrier that prevented outsiders from invading and harassing the Fairy tribes.

In the very center of the Fairy Forests stood a gigantic tree that towered at several hundred thousand feet tall. It stood straight and tall in between heaven and earth like the Jianmu Tree[1] that connected the two.

Lofty, towering, tall, and majestic!

Tranquil, lush, and luxuriant!

This gigantic tree was the Fairy Empire’s holy tree and mother tree itself—the Tree of Vitality.

Erected at the foot of the Tree of Vitality was a beautiful palace formed from intertwining vines and full of beautiful flowers all over. Exquisite and refined, it was the Fairy imperial palace!

Currently, the conference hall in the imperial palace was filled with the Fairy Empire’s high-ranking officials.

An extremely beautiful Fairy with a crown on her head sat at the top. Beautiful, pure, and breathtaking, she looked as if she had stepped right out of a fairytale.

She was the number one beauty of Heaven’s Vault Continent and the Fairy Empire’s ruler—the Fairy Empress!

“Elders, this is an invitation that a special envoy from the Dragon God Empire has just delivered.”

The Fairy Empress parted her ruby red lips. She said, “They are inviting me to the Dragon God Empire to take part in the new emperor, Meng Lei’s, ascension ceremony one month later.”

“Your Majesty, the Dragon God Empire is just being unreasonable and making trouble. You need not pay them any heed!”

A female Fairy with a sword fastened at her waist said coldly, “Considering that it’s just a new emperor ascending the throne, dispatching an official to express your congratulations is more than enough. Your Majesty need not personally make the trip there!”

“Regimental Commander Azshara is right. Your Majesty is the Empress of the Fairy Empire. Wouldn’t the order of seniority be jumbled up if Your Majesty were to congratulate a young human like him?”

A female Fairy with a bow on her back also spoke up. “Besides, whether he’ll even still be alive in a month’s time or not is a question itself. To think he’s still dreaming of ascending the throne!”

“Exactly! Horace Theodore was already a half-deity more than 30,000 years ago. Now that he’s returned with such a fierce momentum, how strong must he be now?”

“As the saying goes, ‘Those who come bear ill intentions, while those that don’t are nowhere near’.”

“With Horace’s talent, he’s probably already become a true god during these last 30,000 years!”

“That makes sense! To think he’s still in the mood to ascend the throne when a true god is coming right at him. He’s ultimately still too young. Little does he know that those who overdo it easily offend others…”

“There’s also something else that I’m worried about. Now that Meng Lei has seized the Dragon God Empire and destroyed the Dragon God’s one and only power of faith domain, how could the Dragon God possibly let him off?”

“That makes sense! The Dragon God would never overlook this!”

Upon hearing the officials’ opinions, the Fairy Empress nodded slightly and said, “I’ve heard your voices, everyone. In that case, we’ll dispatch an envoy to the—”

Buzz…

At that moment, a terrifying wave of divine power suddenly descended upon the Fairy Empress from above. At once, the aura around the Fairy Empress changed, becoming austere, holy, and solemn…

“The Goddess has descended!”

At the sight, all the officials in the hall hastily got up from their seats and bowed at the Fairy Empress, their countenances much more respectful than before.

The Fairy Empress made no response.

A brief moment later, the terrifying divine power disappeared, and the Fairy Empress resumed her previous demeanor.

“Has she left?”

“Her Holiness the Goddess has left!”

The Fairies breathed sighs of relief. Then, they quickly turned to the Fairy Empress and asked, “Your Majesty, has her Holiness the Goddess issued any holy decrees?”

“Yes, she has!

The Fairy Empress said with a wry smile, “Her Holiness has instructed us to take utmost care to protect Meng Lei. We mustn’t allow Horace to kill him!”

“This…”

The Fairies looked at one another, looks of puzzlement surfacing on their faces. Protect Meng Lei? What kind of situation was this?

“Who exactly is Meng Lei? Her Holiness has actually specially issued a holy decree to order us to protect him? Isn’t this a little too unfathomable?”

“Aren’t there rumors that Meng Lei is an evil deity reincarnate? Might he actually be a deity reincarnate? And on top of that, even Her Holiness’ friend?”

“You don’t say, that might really just be the case…”

Women would always be the most gossipy creatures in the world—even if they were a bunch of Fairies.

“Since Her Holiness has issued a holy decree, then we must obey it!” The Fairy Empress said, “I’m thinking of sending an official to the Dragon God Empire to observe the ceremony while I also secretly head there myself. Any objections?”

“As per Your Majesty’s command!”

The Fairies bowed in agreement.

“Since that’s the case, then make the preparations!”

The Fairy Empress said softly, “This won’t be just any ordinary ceremony observance. I should think that everyone knows what needs to be prepared, so I won’t elaborate any further!”

“Yes, Your Majesty!”

In the Titan Empire’s imperial palace in the Titan Colossal City…

“Inviting me to observe the ceremony? Hurhur, it’s probably more like he’s ordering me to go!”

The Thunder Titan Emperor gnashed his teeth as he sat on his throne. He sneered. “Don’t worry. I’ll definitely be there! Not only will I be there, but I’ll even watch you die with my own two eyes!”

Looks of excitement also adorned the faces of the officials in the hall. The Titan Empire had been thoroughly embarrassed after the whole debacle previously caused by Meng Lei, which had resulted in the loss of all their half-deity grandmasters.

Everyone had been terribly enraged since then. And now, the time for them, the Titan Empire, to avenge themselves was finally here!

The Thunder Titan Emperor ordered, “Send my orders—the twelve military units are to assemble at the borders between the Great Earth Pillar Nation and the Dragon God Empire! Once that renegade is dead, the troops are to crush the Dragon God Empire with their supreme might!”

“As per Your Majesty’s command!”

…

Following their respective emperors’ commands, the two massive behemoths—the Beast People Empire and the Titan Empire—transformed into war machines. Troops assembled and raced toward the borders.

The Dragon God Empire’s informers naturally also noticed the changes taking place in the two empires.

For a while, letters were sent to Meng Lei’s desk from the two empires like falling snowflakes.

However, Emperor Meng Lei paid them no heed at all. Instead, they sent all the court officials into a terrible panic.

“By assembling their troops, the two empires are obviously intending to create trouble on the day that His Majesty ascends the throne. What are we to do?”

“The Beast People Empire has ten major military units while the Titan Empire has twelve. Their military power total up to as many as a few hundred million people. How are we to withstand such a terrifying force?”

“The end of the empire is right before us…”

The court was in utter chaos, and all the officials were terribly anxious. Yet Meng Lei wouldn’t even spare them the time of the day. This threw them into a terrible panic.

To be honest, all the officials knew this very well—the Beast People Empire and the Titan Empire’s troops were of no threat. The real threat was the man who had challenged Meng Lei—Horace Theodore!

Should Meng Lei lose the battle or even die in battle, the Beast People Empire and the Titan Empire would rip the Dragon God Empire into shreds like starving, ravenous wolves.

But should Meng Lei win, it would then be a completely different scenario. Under Meng Lei’s lead, perhaps the Dragon God Empire would embark on an all-new journey.

Therefore, the most crucial question was—could Meng Lei win?

What the officials were so anxious over was exactly this issue. They wanted to meet with Meng Lei and probe him for an answer so that they could take a guess as to whether he was confident of winning or not.

Yet Meng Lei refused to meet with any of them. They couldn’t even enter the imperial palace. All they could do was to panic futilely here.

So, where was Meng Lei?

He was currently on the 91st level of the Tower of Time, where he was quietly awaiting the birth of a tiny little life. After almost two years of nurturing, the Elemental Heart had finally hatched!

At the mouth of the volcano on the 91st level…

The magical energy-gathering magic circle enveloping the smaller half of the half-plane gathered a vast amount of fire elements, pumping them all into the mouth of the volcano before a fire cocoon subsequently absorbed them.

Buzz, buzz!

The fire cocoon, which was red with a bit of white, gave off fearsome energy fluctuations. The force of its aura had actually far surpassed that of a Saint Domain expert to reach that of a half-deity.

An alarmed Dodola came to the 91st floor, only for its jaw to drop at the sight of the Elemental Heart. It asked, “Meng Lei, where did you get the fire-elemental being egg from?”

“I picked it up,” Meng Lei answered with a slight smile.

Dodola rolled its eyes, though it didn’t persist with its questions. Dumbstruck, it asked, “For it to already be a half-deity at birth, it looks like that fire-elemental being must come from an extraordinary background!”

“Are you also unable to tell what kind of elemental being it is, Dodola?”

Meng Lei was rather surprised. After all, Dodola was very knowledgeable.

“I can’t!”

Dodola shook its head. “There are so many types of elemental beings out there. How can I possibly know every single one of them? Besides, even the same type of elemental being can undergo great changes from living in different environmental conditions after birth. It’s very difficult to identify them!”

“I see, so that’s how it is.”

Meng Lei understood now.

“However, for it to be a half-deity at birth, that little fellow definitely comes from an extraordinary background.” An envious Dodola said, “That’s some sheer dumb luck you have!”

Meng Lei burst into loud laughter and replied, “Haha! My luck has always been good!”

Boom!

The fire cocoon at the mouth of the volcano suddenly exploded. An aura ten times more forceful than it was before erupted and spread into the surroundings, pounding and sweeping into every direction.

The next moment, a burst of white flames abruptly appeared. It jumped up and down in mid-air, frolicking happily like a Fairy wrapped in flames.

“It’s born!”

A smiling Dodola said, “It looks like that little fellow is a real piece of work, though. You’ll probably have to put in quite some effort if you want to subdue it!”

As though a matter of course, Meng Lei asked, “Shouldn’t it already submit to me since I was the one that had nurtured it to life?”

“Haha! Its subconsciousness was in hibernation before it was born, so how would it possibly know that you were the one that had brought it to life?”

Dodola rolled its eyes at him. “Look! It’s coming over!”

Whoosh!

The white flame had indeed come over. It constantly danced and flickered about as it circled Meng Lei and Dodola, as though curiously checking out the two of them.

“Who are you?”

A child-like divine spirit energy fluctuation suddenly came from the white flame. Young and babyish, it sounded just like a child.

“I’m Meng Lei, and that’s Dodola!”

Meng Lei gave it a friendly smile. He said, “I’m the one that nurtured you to life. Don’t be nervous. We won’t hurt you.”

“You were the one that nurtured me?”

The white flame flew into a rage. Like a hissing little kitten brandishing its claws, it roared furiously, “You’re lying! We fire-elemental beings are born from the flames. Would I even need you to nurture me? How dare you lie to me! You’re a baddie! I’m going to burn you to death!”

Boom, boom, boom!

As it spoke, the white flame suddenly expanded dramatically and turned into an enormous fireball spanning 100-meters-wide. Then, it went crashing madly toward Meng Lei!

[1] Literally ‘building wood’. A holy tree worshiped in ancient times and said to bridge the celestial and mortal realms in Chinese mythology