Picking Up Attributes From Today
chapter-332-30041322

Chapter 332: The Netherworld Divine Fire Evolves, Besieging The Prefecture Master

Boom!

Meng Lei abruptly appeared behind the Ice Demon Prefecture Master. Two bunches of flames manifested in his eyes and turned into a couple of fire pillars that sprayed onto the Ice Demon Prefecture Master.

The black flames blazed away right upon making contact and completely disregarded the Ice Demon Prefecture Master’s body of ice.

“Netherworld Divine Fire!”

“That’s the Netherworld Divine Fire!”

At the sight of the black flames, the expressions of the Great Demon Gods among the Ice Demon Prefecture Guards, the dozen or so Great Demon Gods watching the battle, as well as the many Demon Gods all changed dramatically. The way they looked at Meng Lei immediately changed.

“To think he’s actually royalty!”

Disbelief filled the demons.

The Ice Demon Prefecture belonged to the Dark Hell Demonic Kingdom, and the kingdom’s royal family was exactly the Divine Netherworld Phoenixes. However, the Divine Netherworld Phoenixes’ reproduction rate was extremely low, so pure-blooded Divine Netherworld Phoenixes were exceedingly rare.

However, it was exactly their rarity that made them elegant and noble!

Every Divine Netherworld Phoenix had a lofty and exalted status in the Dark Hell Demonic Kingdom. Everyone treated them with respect and deference wherever they went. Who would dare to slight them at all?

“To think he’s actually royalty!”

Some of the Demon Gods that had hurled insults at Meng Lei earlier sported grimaces on their faces. They’d initially thought Meng Lei a nobody, but little did they know that he was actually just pretending to be weak in order to take advantage of others.

Not only was he a Great Demon God, but he was even royalty! His posturing this time had caught everyone off-guard.

“You’re part of the royal family!”

Like the others, the Ice Demon Prefecture Master had also discovered the Netherworld Divine Fire blazing away on its back. Though surprised, it wasn’t as shocked and horrified like the many Demon Gods and Great Demon Gods.

As a Prefecture Master, its status was just as respected as Meng Lei’s—in fact, it wasn’t inferior to most typical members of the royal family.

What it was truly wary of was that Divine Netherworld Phoenixes were terrifyingly strong. They were nearly invincible among opponents of the same grade as themselves. In particular, Divine Netherworld Phoenixes were even the Ice Demons’ natural enemy!

Should Meng Lei really turn out to be a mid-level Great Demon God-level Divine Netherworld Phoenix, the Ice Demon Prefecture Master wasn’t confident that it could beat Meng Lei at all.

“You’re losing for sure today!”

Meng Lei teleported a few times consecutively and furiously cast Netherworld Divine Fire. His divine body was far inferior to the Ice Demon Prefecture Master’s. Fighting the Ice Demon Prefecture Master head-on was no different from courting death.

Therefore, being constantly on the move and teleporting about while casting Netherworld Divine Fire to burn the Ice Demon Prefecture Master was the best strategy.

“Defeating me? Dream on!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master let out a deep roar. Churning chilly currents arose around it and shook off all the Netherworld Divine Fire flames on it.

Right on the heels of it, it opened its mouth, and a white, chilly current sprayed out of it. The chilly current froze the air around it everywhere it passed through. Had Meng Lei not been fast enough with his teleportation, he would undoubtedly have been frozen to the spot.

Meng Lei teleported to a faraway spot and gazed at the frozen air, finding it an awfully thorny problem. It was one thing to watch someone else’s battle and something else altogether when he was the one actually battling.

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master was even more fearsome than what it had seemed.

“You’re surprisingly quick at fleeing!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master gazed coldly at Meng Lei before glancing at the Netherworld Divine Fire that it had cast off itself. A hint of an icy smile appeared at the corners of its lips as it said, “If my evaluation is correct, you’ve only gone through five rebirths at best, so your Netherworld Divine Fire can’t burn me to death yet!”

Meng Lei had certainly given the Ice Demon Prefecture Master a shock earlier. It had initially thought that since Meng Lei had dared to challenge it, then he must be a mid-level Great Demon God for sure.

However, Meng Lei’s Netherworld Divine Fire was a lot weaker than what it had imagined. Thus, the Ice Demon Prefecture Master had basically judged that Meng Lei was just an ordinary Great Demon God.

He was just a mere ordinary Great Demon God, yet he had actually dared to challenge it? He was practically sending himself to death’s door!

“Haha! The Ice Demon Prefecture Master is looking down on you, Meng Lei!”

Dodola’s somewhat-gloating voice rang out in Meng Lei’s mind.

“Are you that happy that it’s looking down on me?” Meng Lei rolled his eyes. “It’s fine if you don’t wanna help, but to think you’re cracking wise at my expense!”

Dodola toned down its grin and said, “There’s a huge gap in strength between you and the Ice Demon Prefecture Master. Given your current prowess, you can only maneuver around it for a while at best. It’s impossible for you to kill it.”

Meng Lei fell silent upon Dodola’s response. Thanks to his teleportation ability, it was very hard for the Ice Demon Prefecture Master to kill him. However, his objective wasn’t to maneuver around it but to kill it.

By killing the Ice Demon Prefecture Master, not only would he earn vast amounts of Divinity Crystals, but he would also inherit the position of Ice Demon Prefecture Master and get his hands on the Ice Demon Prefecture’s treasury.

He must kill the Ice Demon Prefecture Master!

But the problem was—how was he supposed to achieve that?

Meng Lei couldn’t help but sweep his gaze across his stats interface. He asked, “System, how many Divinity Crystals does it cost to enhance my divine body?”

“Ding! The host’s Physical Body Constitution is currently that of a low-level higher deity’s and will rival that of a mid-level higher deity’s after enhancement. Enhancement cost is estimated at 60 million Divinity Crystals,” replied the system coldly.

“60 million…”

Meng Lei was lost for words in an instant. What a ridiculous price that was! He wouldn’t fetch that sort of money even if they split him up and sold him in bits and pieces. How was he supposed to enhance his divine body?

Since I can’t enhance my divine body, what else can I enhance?

Meng Lei’s gaze continued downward.

Spirit, Power of Divinity, Laws of Nature Comprehension, Innate Special Ability… Wait a minute! Innate Special Ability?!

Meng Lei hurriedly asked, “System, can Innate Special Abilities be enhanced?”

“Dear host, Super Enhancement is capable of enhancing everything about the host.”

“How many Divinity Crystals does it cost to enhance Netherworld Divine Fire?”

“Ding! The host’s Netherworld Divine Fire is currently classified as a high-grade Innate Special Ability and will become a superior-grade Innate Special Ability after enhancement. Enhancement cost is estimated at 10 million Divinity Crystals.”

“10 million Divinity Crystals? Alright, do it!”

Meng Lei didn’t hesitate.

Whoosh!

His Wealth instantly decreased by 10 million Divinity Crystals, leaving him with a balance of only 37 million Divinity Crystals.

At the same time, Meng Lei sensed a strange and fascinating warm current flowing into the deepest depths of his body. Netherworld Divine Fire flames involuntarily gushed out of the surface of his body and enveloped him within.

Black Netherworld Divine Fire flames wrapped around his whole body. Despite the lack of apparent changes on the surface, Meng Lei could clearly sense that his Netherworld Divine Fire’s temperature increased at a crazy rate!

500,000°C, 550,000°C, 600,000°C…

700,000°C, 800,000°C, 900,000°C…

His Netherworld Divine Fire’s temperature rose by leaps and bounds practically every second. At the end of it, it had actually broken through the 1,000,000°C milestone!

1,000,000°C?

What kind of concept was that?

Even the temperature of the sun’s surface was no more than just a mere 5,500°C!

One could imagine how just hot Meng Lei’s Netherworld Divine Fire was!

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master’s sharp senses caught the changes in Meng Lei’s Netherworld Divine Fire, and its expression changed dramatically right away.

If Netherworld Divine Fire had posed no threat to it previously, then things were different now!

“His Netherworld Divine Fire has actually evolved?”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master was rather horror-stricken. Every time a Divine Netherworld Phoenix was reborn, their Netherworld Divine Fire would also evolve along with it. Its temperature would rise even further, and the power it contained would become even more fearsome.

However, it only evolved after their rebirth. How could anyone just inexplicably evolve their Netherworld Divine Fire within such a short amount of time like what Meng Lei did?

That didn’t make sense at all!

“The Netherworld Divine Fire has evolved?”

Dodola, however, was already desensitized to such surprises by now. This wasn’t the first or second time that Meng Lei had inexplicably powered up—Dodola had already become used to it by now.

Meng Lei took a deep breath as he took in the changes in his Netherworld Divine Fire. Then, he said unhurriedly, “Didn’t you find my Netherworld Divine Fire’s temperatures too low for you, Ice Demon Prefecture Master? Come and give it a go again now!”

Meng Lei had already launched a casual attack before he was even done speaking. Several hundred black spears—all of them manifested from Netherworld Divine Fire—suddenly appeared in front of him.

“Go!”

Meng Lei stretched his arm out and pointed. At once, the several hundred black spears suddenly pierced through the air and shot toward the Ice Demon Prefecture Master at lightning-quick speed, reaching right in front of it in the blink of an eye.

Roar!

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master opened its mouth, and a white, chilly current sprayed out from within. It formed an ice wall in front of it that blocked the black spears hurtling toward it.

Boom!

The black spears landed against the ice wall and burst into raging flames. In the span of a few short breaths, they had already melted the ice wall and burned it into ashes.

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master’s expression involuntarily changed drastically. The Netherworld Divine Fire’s might had spiked dramatically after its evolution. Once struck by its flames, they would definitely have a shot at killing it!

“His Netherworld Divine Fire might have evolved, but his divine body hasn’t.” The Ice Demon Prefecture Master’s eyes were cold and imposing as it told itself, “As long as I can seize the opportunity, I’ll definitely be able to kill him in one hit!”

“Again!”

The greatly-strengthened Netherworld Divine Fire gave Meng Lei a huge boost of confidence, and he transformed into a Divine Netherworld Phoenix whose wingspan exceeded 100,000 feet.

Every one of his black plumes stood on end like steel needles. His enormous form emanated a noble, cold, and aloof pressure. A fearsome aura spread from Meng Lei and swept through all directions.

Screeeech!

Meng Lei let out a cry. Great bursts of Netherworld Divine Fire shot forth like tornadoes with a flap of his wings and rushed toward the Ice Demon Prefecture Master with overwhelming momentum.

“Damn!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master’s expression changed at once, and it swiftly retreated with a burst of speed. It didn’t want the Netherworld Divine Fire flames to get onto it at all. Otherwise, things would be terrible.

“Thinking of fleeing?”

Meng Lei snorted and teleported behind the Ice Demon Prefecture Master. Another great burst of Netherworld Divine Fire flames surged out of him as he let out another cry.

“Bastard!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master tried to flee from the side, but Meng Lei didn’t give it the chance at all. After teleporting a few times, the Ice Demon Prefecture Master had become surrounded by Netherworld Divine Fire on its left and right, top and bottom!

For a while there, there was Netherworld Divine Fire to its top and bottom, left and right, as well as front and back. The Ice Demon Prefecture Master was completely surrounded by flames, leaving it no way out and nowhere to hide.

“Damn!”

The Netherworld Divine Fire flames reflected a fiery glow on the Ice Demon Prefecture Master’s face, which had already become all distorted. Its heart sank as it stared at the Netherworld Divine Fire surging toward it from every direction.

The evolved Netherworld Divine Fire contained incredible might. The Ice Demon Prefecture Master didn’t want to come into contact with it at all if it could help it. However, now that things had come to such a pass, it could only fight back head-on.

Roar!

Surging, torrential white, chilly currents arose all around the Ice Demon Prefecture Master and formed a thick ice shield all around it as it roared.

Right after that, the Ice Demon Prefecture Master jumped right into the blazing Netherworld Divine Fire flames. A moment later, it charged out of the Netherworld Divine Fire encirclement.

The ice shield was already on fire and blazing away by now. Just as it was about to be fully burned away, the Ice Demon Prefecture Master shook itself hard all over, shaking off the ice shield and throwing it out.

“Phew! I’ve finally charged my way out!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master heaved a sigh of relief. However, before it could completely become at ease, a mocking voice rang out beside its ear.

“Ice Demon Prefecture Master, did you think it’s already over with just that?”

“Eh?”

The ice Demon Prefecture Master raised its head—only to see that an overwhelming number of black spears had surrounded it!

Densely-packed black spears occupied the heavens and the earth, its left and right, front and back, every direction…

There were as many as tens of thousands of them!

There was nowhere in and nowhere out!

It… had become surrounded again!

“Bastard!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master was so furious that it was shaking all over. It had only just escaped from the encirclement after so much trouble and hadn’t even caught its breath yet, yet it had become surrounded again?

Just how goddamn *beep* was that?

Meng Lei resumed his human form and said, “Accept your fate, Ice Demon Prefecture Master. There’s nowhere for you to run anymore!”

“We’ll have to see whether or not you’re that capable if you want to kill me!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master let out a deep roar. White, chilly currents arose all around it again. Evidently, it was intending to use the same trick and escape using an ice shield.

“Shoot!”

The black spears covering the sky shot toward the Ice Demon Prefecture Master in a swarm like a rain of arrows.

“Block!”

The Ice Demon Prefecture Master bellowed. The white, chilly currents formed a thick ice wall around it. On top of that, the ice wall constantly increased in size and became thicker and thicker.

“Resistance is futile!”

Dodola flew over at this point and blew lightly at the ice wall. A huge dimensional vortex—through which one could see the Ice Demon Prefecture Master—bizarrely appeared on the thick ice wall.

Whoosh!

Meng Lei seized the opportunity right away. Dozens of black spears shot into the dimensional vortex.

“Ahhh!”