Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
The scene displayed on the magic screen changed constantly. Following Sachhen the Golden Dragon-Lion and Adil the Thunder Giant, the other geniuses also made their debut one by one.
“Your Majesty, that’s Miriam the Immortal Fairy. Miriam has successfully awakened her Wood Fairy bloodline and has nearly perfectly inherited all of the Wood Fairy’s abilities.
“Not only does she have superbly high wood-elemental magic talent, but she also possesses a superbly wide field of vision, making her both a wood-elemental Saint Domain Great Magician as well as a Saint Domain archer!
“That’s Meredith the Empire’s Dawn. Meredith possesses the powerful Angel bloodline and has incredible and exceptional talent when it comes to light-elemental laws of nature.
“At the young age of 29 years old, Meredith already possesses the strength of a mid-level Saint Domain. Even many old-timer Saint Domains wouldn’t dare say for sure that they can beat her in a battle!
“That white-haired fellow wearing beast hide is Mond Aston, the White Tiger Knight. Mond Aston is a rare double bloodline-holder. Additionally, both bloodlines he holds are extremely powerful.
“One of them is the Beast People’s royal bloodline, the White Tiger bloodline, while the other is the Netherworld White Tiger bloodline.
“White Tigers are legendary warlord divine beasts. They are resolute and decisive in battle, and their ferocious might reaches all the way to the heavens, while Netherworld White Tigers are rare light-elemental and dark-elemental Saint Domain Magical Beasts, which makes them strange and unpredictable.
“For Mond Aston, who has successfully awakened his double Tiger bloodlines, not only does he possess the rarely-seen combination of light-elemental, dark-elemental, and metal-elemental magic talents, but he also has a strong and powerful body, as well as incredible speed. Mond Aston’s strength is not to be doubted!”
“Sachhen the Golden Dragon-Lion, Adil the Thunder Giant, Miriam the Immortal Fairy, Meredith the Empire’s Dawn, and Mond Aston the White Tiger Knight!”
Upon hearing President Luke’s introduction, Frederick the 32nd was terribly emotional. “The geniuses this year are undoubtedly the most impressive in the last 100 years!
“Any of them would’ve been a well-deserved candidate for the title of champion in the past years, yet there are so many of them this year! I am greatly comforted to see that!”
“These are all thanks to Your Majesty’s great leadership!”
“The proliferation of geniuses and the empire’s prosperity are all thanks to Your Majesty!”
“Ever since Your Majesty has ascended the throne, all have surrendered, and every race has realigned their allegiance to the empire. The Lost Continent was then discovered, and now, there are geniuses...”
At the sight of the emperor’s reaction, the officials began to sing unending praises, which flowed like the gushing, flooding rivers beyond one’s control.
Frederick the 32nd waved lightly and said, “The proliferation of geniuses is certainly the empire’s fortune, but I’ve heard that those aren’t the only talents this year!”
At this point, Frederick the 32nd’s gaze landed on the other academy presidents, his inquiry evident.
“Your Majesty, several geniuses have also emerged from the Royal Knights Academy. The most outstanding one is no doubt Her Highness, Annabella the 13th Princess!
“Her Highness has excellent talent. At 28 years old, she’s ranked 17th in the Dragon God Genius Ranking and firmly overpowers everyone in the younger generation. She has even made great contributions during the dozens of marine beast attacks. Her strength makes even old antiques like us ashamed of ourselves.”
“Little Thirteen is indeed not bad!”
Upon hearing praises of the 13th Princess, a smile appeared on Frederick the 32nd’s countenance at once. Among all his children that numbered more than 1,000, the one he doted on the most was Little Thirteen.
All the officials and numerous Saint Domains also nodded repeatedly. As the one hailed as the strongest among the younger generation, there was no doubt about the 13th Princess’ strength. Thus, she was highly favored by His Majesty.
If it weren’t because her bloodline wasn’t pure, she’d have been the next emperor for sure. Prince Barbarossa wouldn’t even have been part of the discussion at all.
In a certain area of a forest in the Lost Continent...
“The Saint Domain Magical Beast aura is emanating from this pit!”
A young man wearing a black magic robe approached a sinkhole in the depths of the forest. The sinkhole, measuring 100-meters-wide and unfathomably deep, looked just like a monster’s enormous mouth that was about to devour someone.
The sinkhole’s walls on the inside were full of fine grasses, lichen, and fungi that blocked the sinkhole firmly and entirely from view. If he hadn’t found his way here by following the Saint Domain Magical Beast’s aura, he wouldn’t have discovered its existence at all.
“Yet another Saint Domain Magical Beast is going to croak. Sigh, they must be really down on their luck to have run into you! How pitiful~”
“Ol’ President, must you really say it like that?”
“Am I wrong in saying that?”
“Aren’t you?”
“Are you intending to kill it?”
“Of course!”
“It’s staying in its den all fine and dandy, yet calamity’s going to fall out of nowhere from the sky. Since it’s going to be killed by you for no good reason, then doesn’t that make it really down on its luck?”
“Well, I guess so.”
“There’s nothing wrong with what I said, then!”
“I can’t win in an argument with you...”
The young man was naturally Meng Lei. He went right into the sinkhole with a leap. A chilly, humid dampness in the air coupled with the stink of decay rushed toward him.
As he went deeper and deeper into the sinkhole, the temperatures began to drop, and the light became dimmer and dimmer. However, the aura of the Saint Domain Magical Beast lurking within also became increasingly stronger.
Meng Lei, who was bold and fearless thanks to his skills, descended swiftly into the sinkhole. Approximately five minutes later, he finally reached the bottom of the sinkhole. A gigantic underground cave entered his sight.
“Wow, there’s a whole different world at the bottom of the sinkhole!”
Despite how dimly lit the bottom of the sinkhole was, as Meng Lei had astonishingly good eyesight, nothing in the surroundings could escape his vision. The area at the bottom of the sinkhole was incredibly wide and spacious, and one actually couldn’t even see to the end of it.
It was truly a whole new world full of profoundness within.
The ground was strewn with various skeletons and remains. The largest skeleton was as tall as 100 meters, and just a single rib bone alone was already as tall as a 10-story building.
As for other skeletal remains, there were so many around that one couldn’t keep count at all.
“The concentration of methane here is astonishingly high. Just a tiny spark would be enough to ignite an earth-shattering explosion. But where’s the Saint Domain Magical Beast, though?”
Buzz, buzz!
All of a sudden...
A peculiar buzzing reached his ears, and then several pairs of blood-red eyes suddenly appeared in his vision.
Innumerable pairs of eyes the color of blood appeared in the dark. As though the eyes of fiends from hell, they gave off an incredibly sinister and chilly glint that would badly frighten anyone.
At the same time, the sounds of something licking its lips and swallowing its saliva also reached him. One could easily imagine that the masters of these blood-red eyes were currently watching Meng Lei intently and licking their lips greedily.
And the truth was indeed so.
In the pitch-black cave opposite him, Meng Lei could clearly see bat-like creatures hanging upside-down. As large as a yak, each of them had a pair of wings on their back, the head of a black wolf, blood-red eyes, and a mouth full of fangs.
Those were the Sixth-Grade Magical Beasts, Shadowwolf Bats!
“I’m being seen as food by a bunch of Sixth-Grade Magical Beasts...”
The corners of Meng Lei’s lips quirked upward in a contemptuous smile. He tossed an orange-sized fireball toward them with a flick of his fingers.
Boom!
The fireball successfully ignited the methane permeating the air at the bottom of the sinkhole. Amid deafening explosions, a series of successive explosions erupted, and shocking waves of fire began to roast everything at the bottom of the sinkhole.
Hooowl!
At once, shrill cries rang out everywhere. All the Shadowwolf Bats flapped their wings and flew about frantically as they tried to flee. They looked as though they had all gone mad. How they wished they had been born with another pair of wings!
“That’s for not knowing what’s good for you.”
Meng Lei snorted lightly. Then, he dived straight into the flames rushing into the heavens and went toward where the Saint Domain Magical Beast’s aura was coming from.
As for the tens of thousands of Shadowwolf Bats trapped inside the sea of fire, he could hardly be bothered with them. If they were going to be burned to death, then be his guest.
As for those that the fire couldn’t burn to death, they would only be in even more pain and agony as they suffered from a living hell.