Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Meng Lei wasn’t aware of the ongoings in the Light Church at all. He was chatting happily with Ol’ Amos. They were currently immersed in a joyous reunion after a long separation.
“Ol’ President, I noticed that you had used Power of Divine Nation when you were battling the four Red-Cloaked Archbishops earlier. Have you become a true god?” asked a curious Meng Lei.
Ol’ Amos couldn’t help but laugh wryly upon hearing his question. He replied, “No, I haven’t become a true god yet. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been in such a pathetic predicament.”
His reply puzzled Meng Lei even further. He asked, “How did you manage to use Power of Divine Nation if you haven’t established a divine nation yet?”
“It’s a long story!”
Ol’ Amos shook his head and said, “I strayed into a strange and fascinating place by chance when I was traveling around a month ago. Only one type of laws of nature existed there, and it was fairly small in surface area, yet it was also unlike a half-plane. Later on, I realized that it was actually a divine nation’s ruins!”
“A divine nation’s ruins?”
Meng Lei was taken aback.
“That’s right, a divine nation’s ruins!”
Ol’ Amos nodded slightly and said, “As the divine nation’s master has already met their demise, it has been crumbling and falling apart since a long time ago. If nothing beyond my expectations happens, it’ll dissolve and disappear completely in 100 years.
“I lucked out and found a masterless true god-level divine core in the divine nation. You must have already guessed what happened after that.”
Ol’ Amos shook his head and said, “I’ve assimilated the divine core, but unfortunately, it’s not fully assimilated yet because of time constraints. Otherwise, I wouldn’t have been outclassed by those four Red-Cloaked Archbishops from the church.”
“Ol’ President, that luck of yours is really…”
Meng Lei didn’t know how he should describe it anymore.
“I was just too short on time!” A grumpy Ol’ Amos said, “Had I fully assimilated the divine core and completely become a true god, things would have turned out differently today.”
“You’re mistaken, Ol’ President. Even if you had fully assimilated the divine core, you still wouldn’t have been the Light Church’s archbishops’ match.”
An amused Meng Lei said, “I can detect the presence of nine true gods, as well as a lesser deity, in the Light Church, not to mention innumerable half-deities.”
“Really?”
“Of course!”
Gasp!
Ol’ Amos couldn’t help but gasp. “I knew the Light Church was very powerful, but I didn’t think that they would actually be that powerful. Their strength is practically beyond one’s imagination! How did you know that, by the way?”
“Amos, you wicked heretic! Get out here and meet your end!”
Suddenly, a cold and emotionless voice rang out like an explosion in the sky, resounding in the entire Kroc Academy like a deep thunderclap and causing great commotion.
Ol’ Amos’ expression changed, and he said, “The inevitable has ultimately still come. Meng Lei, you’d better go. There’s no need for you to involve yourself in this mess.”
“Don’t worry. The Light Church hasn’t become so powerful that they can send me running for my life yet.” A smiling Meng Lei said, “Let’s go and pay them a visit!”
“Sigh! I really don’t know what to do with you!”
Ol’ Amos sighed and left the office with Meng Lei. He was then stunned by the Light Church’s luxurious line-up right away—innumerable knights clad in light-elemental armor stood afloat in the sky. They wore light-elemental metal helmets, grasped light-elemental sacred swords, and were as holy and pure as angels.
A student exclaimed, “It’s the Knights of Light!”
“No, they aren’t the Knights of Light but the Light Church’s most elite Holy Maiden Knights!”
A teacher corrected them and said, “Take a good look—the badges pinned on the knights’ chests are in the shape of angels. That’s the symbol unique to the Holy Maiden Knights.”
“The Holy Maiden Knights? That’s the elite order of knights dedicated to protecting the Holy Maiden of Light, aren’t they? Even the weakest among them is at least a Saint Domain. Could the Holy Maiden of Light have actually come in person?”
“Oh my god! Even the Holy Maiden of Light herself has come…”
“Meng Lei, things have become rather troublesome!”
Ol’ Amos’ gaze was fixed on the Holy Maiden Knights. He had a grave look on his face, and even his voice had become rather deep and low.
“Perhaps, I guess.”
Meng Lei gave him a noncommittal smile and said, “The other party’s line-up is certainly impressive—there are 24 half-deities and even a true god among them. On top of that, it’s even a pinnacle-level true god.”
Ol’ Amos gasped. “A p-pinnacle-level true god? How are we supposed to even fight them?”
“Amos, you’ve colluded with a demon from another continent to bring calamity to the Light Continent and are deeply mired in sin!”
Archbishop Chicas stepped forward from among the crowd and said, “Get on your knees and repent! What are you waiting for?”
“What’s he talking about?”
“What does he mean by a demon from another continent?”
“Could he be talking about that expert standing beside Mr. President? Is that expert from another continent?”
All the students and teachers of Kroc Academy shifted their curious and puzzled gazes to Meng Lei.
“Stop spouting such nonsense to fool the world, Chicas! The Light Church is always playing the same old tricks. Can’t you think of something new?”
Ol’ Amos said coldly, “Let’s battle if that’s what you want! I’m ready for you anytime, so cut the crap!”
“To think you’re actually that insistent on being unrepentant!” Archbishop Chicas ordered coldly, “Men, capture him and bring him back to the Holy Mountain so that he can be put on trial!”
“Yes, sir!”
Ten half-deities immediately shot forth at his command and lunged toward Ol’ Amos.
Meanwhile, Archbishop Chicas’ eyes, which were filled with fearful reservations and a look of warning, bore deeply into Meng Lei.
“Good job on making it here!”
Ol’ Amos let out a deep war cry. He was just about to go forward and meet their attacks when Meng Lei stopped him. He said, “Let me do it instead, Ol’ President. I can also take this opportunity to show you the results of my cultivation during the last three years.”
“This… Alright!”
Ol’ Amos sighed, choosing not to reject his offer. Indeed, he certainly didn’t have even a shred of confidence when up against such terrifying power from the Light Church.
Now that things had come to this, he could only pin his hopes on Meng Lei.
Meng Lei took a step forward. His gaze swept slowly and leisurely across the Light Church men as he said calmly, “I’m in a good mood today and don’t wish to go on a killing spree. I’ll give you a chance—vanish from my sight at once!”
“How dare you!”
“How presumptuous!”
“How impudent!”
The Light Church men flew into a rage at his words. The ten half-deities that had lunged at Ol’ Amos previously immediately changed their course of motion and charged brazenly toward Meng Lei instead.
They transformed into ten white lightning bolts, the friction of their movement against the air producing crackling whizzing sounds like the whistling of trains.
“Die, you devil!”
“Those that challenge the Light Church’s authority shall… Die!”
“You think too highly of yourselves!”
Meng Lei shook his head slightly. Then, he reached out a finger, tapped lightly in the air, and commanded, “Freeze!”
Buzz…
The dimension instantly solidified, and the ten half-deities that had initially been charging toward Meng Lei with great momentum froze where they were, completely immobilized.
“Ashes to ashes, dust to dust. Disperse!”
With a wave from Meng Lei, the ten half-deities instantly exploded into ten veils of bloody mist.
Their heads exploded into a bloody mist.
Their bones exploded into a bloody mist.
Their limbs exploded into a bloody mist.
Their entrails exploded into a bloody mist.
All their internal organs exploded into bloody mists.
The mists of blood scattered with the wind and floated toward the Light Church men, drowning them out in the blink of an eye.
Archbishop Chicas included, everyone from the church couldn’t help but gasp.
Ten half-deities… had died just like that?
They hadn’t made any waves… They hadn’t flown up to the other party… In fact, they hadn’t even caused much of a commotion, if at all…
Yet they had already been blasted into mists of blood?
Gulp!
Archbishop Chicas swallowed hard as a hint of indescribable fear surfaced in his eyes.
The ten ascetic cultivators had all been pinnacle-level half-deities and had been pillars of support in the church. Yet they had been instantly taken out?
Just how frighteningly strong was the other party?
And how terrifying was his power?
“Initially, I couldn’t be bothered about the Light Church because I’ve only just come to this continent. After all, no matter how hard you try to make trouble, you would only be nothing but a bunch of insignificant ants.”
As though he was talking about something insignificant and trivial, he said, “But since you’re seeking death, I don’t mind squashing you along the way!”
“On guard!”
Archbishop Chicas’ eyelid twitched continuously, and he let out a great shout—he knew that Meng Lei was about to launch an attack!
Clank, clank, clank!
The Holy Maiden Knights quickly released their Battle Aura and gathered it above them to form a tough, solid light shield that shrouded all of them within.
“You perverse demon! How dare you so cruelly and wantonly kill the Light Church’s half-deities!”
It was only within the light shield that Archbishop Chicas finally gained a sense of security. He glared at Meng Lei and shouted, “Surrender at once and follow me back to the Holy Mountain to repent for your sins if you know what’s good for you! Otherwise, you’ll regret ever coming to the Light Continent when our Lord metes out punishment!”
“You’re too noisy!”
Meng Lei cast a glance at Archbishop Chicas. Then, he raised his glistening jade-like palm and lightly smacked downward in the direction of the Holy Maiden Knights.
Boom!
Power of Existential Plane formed a huge palm capable of blotting out the sky and crashed down on the Holy Maiden Knights like a great mountain.
Archbishop Chicas’ heart, as well as all the Holy Maiden Knights’ hearts, almost jumped out of their mouths as they watched the gigantic palm crashing down on them.
“Please watch over us, Goddess of Light!”
“We have to block that attack!”
“O supreme Lord, praise be to you! Please let us block that damned attack…”
Everyone shouted and cheered themselves on inwardly. However, their prayers went unanswered by the Goddess of Light because cracks formed all over the light shield the moment the gigantic palm made contact with the light shield.
Then, it broke with a crack and dissipated with white glowing particles that dissipated into the air.
“It’s all over!”
“We’re doomed now!”
Looks of despair came over everyone’s faces at once. How strong must that palm strike have been if even the light shield that tens of thousands of people had simultaneously formed couldn’t withstand it?
Just as everyone thought that they were about to be smashed into a bloody pulp, a sword’s golden glint burst forth from the Knights and shot toward the gigantic palm!
Slash!
The sword glint was incredibly sharp, and it cleaved the gigantic palm right into two. Then, a graceful golden figure appeared in a flash and gazed coldly at Meng Lei.
She was tall and slender and had a shapely, curvaceous figure.
She possessed unparalleled beauty that outshone even that of Lady Zhen’s1.
Her eyes were stern and grave, while her attractive face was as icy as snow.
She had a head of long blond hair and a pair of long and slender legs. Clad in golden armor and wearing a red cape on her shoulders, she carried herself tall and looked heroic and valiant.
“Your Eminence!” exclaimed Archbishop Chicas, whose spirits had become fired up again right away. The Holy Maiden was a pinnacle-level true god. With her around, there was nothing to fear!
The Holy Maiden glowered at Meng Lei and stated icily, “I am Altacia, the Holy Maiden of Light.”
“You’ve made your appearance at last!”
Meng Lei flicked his fingers as he said, “Here I was, thinking that you were going to hide at the back and refuse to come out.”
Altacia said coldly, “Deity from Heaven’s Vault Continent, this is the Light Church’s territory. We will not allow you to behave so atrociously here! Follow me back to the Holy Mountain to be punished!”
“The Light Church’s territory?”
Meng Lei couldn’t help but laugh.
I’m the master of this existential plane, y’know. The whole existential plane is my territory!
Yet you won’t allow me to behave so atrociously?
“Your Eminence, are you trying to make me die of laughter so that you can inherit my Ant Check Later1?”