Translator: Atlas Studios  Editor: Atlas Studios

The Dragon G.o.d Cathedral was a snowy-white color throughout.

Lofty and majestic, grand and magnificent!

Squarish in structure and solemn in bearing!

And last but not least, dignified and holy!

In front of the Dragon G.o.d Cathedral stood an altar approximately 1,000-feet-tall. As enormous as a mountain ridge, the whole structure was crafted from gold and looked like a pyramid with its tip shaved off.

A 1,000-feet-tall Golden Colossal Dragon statue stood at the apex of the altar. It had rows and rows of golden dragon scales, fierce and sharp claws, solemn and imposing eyes…

It dazzled with a golden brilliance, its divine might vast and majestic, and gave off a holy and untouchable domineering aura that reached high into the heavens and deep into the ground.

…It was a statue of the Dragon G.o.d!

At the moment, the area in front of the Dragon G.o.d statue was packed with people, ranging from the Dragon G.o.d Empire's emperor all the way to the contestants in the compet.i.tion…

All of them stood in front of the Dragon G.o.d statue, their demeanors solemn and dignified as they prayed piously. Even Meng Lei the husky1 among the wolves had no choice but to put on a pretense and mumble to himself.

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. Host's Physical Body Const.i.tution +10,086!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. Host's Magic Power 2,345!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. Host's Wealth +6,666!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. You have obtained the Water-Elemental First-Cla.s.s Spell, Disastrous Tsunami!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. You have obtained the Ice-Elemental First-Cla.s.s Spell, Absolute Zero!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. You have obtained the Thunder-Elemental First-Cla.s.s Spell, Three Thousand Strikes of Lightning!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. You have obtained the Metal—Elemental First-Cla.s.s Spell, Ten Thousand Swords Return Home!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. You have obtained the Wood—Elemental First-Cla.s.s Spell, Myriad of Nature!”

“Ding! a.s.similation successful. You have obtained a Thunder-Elemental Laws of Nature Fragment!”

“Ding! Congratulations to the host. You've obtained the Golden Colossal Dragon bloodline. Will you a.s.similate it?”

“Ding…”

As he listened to the system notifications constantly ringing out in his mind, Meng Lei was utterly delighted.

I was right in coming! I was right in coming here, indeed!

Ever since he had arrived at the Dragon G.o.d Cathedral, the system notifications hadn't paused for even a moment. Multi-colored light b.a.l.l.s filled the place like soap bubbles, dense and packed. There was no way of counting their numbers at all.

They were either Physical Body Const.i.tution, Magic Power, spell, or gold coin light b.a.l.l.s!

He had even picked up quite a few bloodline light b.a.l.l.s and Laws of Nature fragment light b.a.l.l.s! If not for the fact that Meng Lei had already upgraded the system, hence he could now choose whether or not he wanted to a.s.similate the bloodlines, they would probably have already been a.s.similated into him and turned him into Ultraman!

“There are too many Saint Domains here today… There are probably at least 800 of them, if not 1,000! A force like that can practically destroy the world! The Dragon G.o.d Empire's heritage is too fearsome…”

There was indeed an extraordinary number of bigwigs present on this day. Including the Empire's emperor, princes, princesses, members of the royalty, n.o.bles, high-ranking officials, academy leaders, and teachers-in-charge of the contestant teams…

There were no fewer than 100,000 people there!

Among the many present were also innumerable Saint Domain-level experts. Although they hadn't deliberately given off an intimidating aura, nevertheless, with so many of them standing together, the energy fluctuations they vaguely gave off were still enough to silence the proud and defiant contestants.

Ten minutes later, the prayers ended.

The emperor, Frederick the 32nd, straightened his back and got up. A palace attendant brought forth a chair at once, and Frederick the 32nd settled into the seat.

Then, the palace attendant announced in a loud voice, “Bow to the Emperor!”

“Greetings, Your Majesty!” Everyone bowed in deference one by one.

The Saint Domains bent over at the waist and bowed down before the emperor, while all those below them got down on one knee.

“You may rise!” Frederick the 32nd declared with a light wave.

“Thank you, Your Majesty!”

Then, everyone got back up.

“Today is the day that the quadrennial Empire-wide Inter-Academy Exchange Compet.i.tion of The Elites officially begins. I'm looking forward to all the geniuses from the various major academies showing us their best in the exchange compet.i.tion!”

Frederick the 32nd was a chubby middle-aged man. With a mild and gentle voice and a kind and amiable disposition, he looked just like a good-tempered uncle next door.

However, if one really thought so, then they would be dead wrong.

Frederick the 32nd—whose full name was Howard Frederick—was a history-making monster who was ranked 9th in the Dragon G.o.d Genius Ranking. He was also a pure-blooded Golden Colossal Dragon and currently a Saint Domain expert.

It was no exaggeration to say that underneath Frederick the 32nd's mild and gentle exterior laid unfathomable depths of strength.

The reason why he currently seemed like an ordinary person was because the ruler of the empire had already reached a state so high that he'd returned to his true self. His fearsomeness was something that only people from the same era as him understood.

“A total of 7,848 contestants have joined the exchange compet.i.tion this year, making the number higher than all the previous years. This shows that our empire has an abundance of talents, and the power it holds is prospering with each pa.s.sing day. I am greatly comforted to know that!”

Frederick the 32nd's gaze landed on the 7,000-odd contestants, and he said, “I hope that all of you can achieve excellent results in the upcoming compet.i.tion and bring glory to yourself, your academy, your family, and your respective kingdoms!

“Someone, read my royal decree!”

Upon his command, a palace attendant took out a scroll and began to read it aloud, “By His Majesty's royal decree! All those who rank in the top 50 positions of the exchange compet.i.tion shall be conferred the t.i.tle of a Viscount and bestowed a plot of land measuring 25 square kilometers, 50 servants, and a Saint Domain-level magic device!

“Those who rank in the top 20 positions of the exchange compet.i.tion shall be conferred the t.i.tle of an Earl and bestowed a plot of land measuring 50 square kilometers, 100 servants, a Saint Domain-level magic device, and five kilograms of elemental crystals!

“Those who rank in the top ten positions of the exchange compet.i.tion shall be conferred the t.i.tle of a Marquis and bestowed a plot of land measuring 250 square kilometers, 500 servants, a Saint Domain-level magic device, a Laws of Nature Origin Crystal, and 50 kilograms of elemental crystals!

“Those who rank in the top three positions of the exchange compet.i.tion shall be conferred the t.i.tle of a Duke and bestowed a plot of land measuring 500 square kilometers, 1,000 servants, ten Laws of Nature Origin Crystals, 500 kilograms of elemental crystals, and the right to a one-year residence in the Dragon Island!”

Whoaaa!

The attendant's voice spread clearly throughout the whole place, despite not being very loud. Upon the announcement, an uproar went through the crowd. Everyone's gazes s.h.i.+fted to the contestants, their eyes full of envy and jealousy.

The rewards this year were simply too much more generous than the previous years'.

The t.i.tle of a Duke!

In the past, only the champions were conferred as Dukes, yet one needed only to enter the top three, and they would receive the t.i.tle this year.

Laws of Nature Origin Crystals!

In the past, only the top three contestants would receive Origin Crystals, yet one could get them just by making it into the top ten this year. On top of that, they would even receive as many as ten of them.

Ten Laws of Nature Origin Crystals! Just how generous were the rewards?

After all, what were Laws of Nature Origin Crystals?

They were the key to the Saint Domain realm!

Just a tiny one alone would already be enough to help a ninth-grade expert open the doors to the Saint Domain realm. How many years of painstaking cultivation would that save a Ninth-Grade expert?

It could be said that Laws of Nature Origin Crystals held a lethal attraction to any ninth-grade expert. Any expert stuck at the pinnacle of ninth-grade and unable to advance any further would love to have one to help them to break through.

Unfortunately, how would something like that possibly be that easy to obtain?

As for the right to residence in Dragon Island, this was something that one daren't even think about!

As the Holy Land of the Colossal Dragons and even the Dragon G.o.d Empire, traditionally, only pure-blooded Colossal Dragons and Saint Domain Dragon People were allowed to enter Dragon Island. How would ordinary people possibly be qualified to enter the island?

Even the champions didn't receive a privilege like that during the past years of the compet.i.tion!

Yet one needed only to make it into the top three positions, and they would receive the right to a one-year residence on the Dragon Island this year? This was practically… insane!

Your Majesty, are you out of your mind? Why are the rewards so generous this year?

“Those little fellows are simply too lucky this year!”

Some people were so jealous that their countenances were pretty much close to becoming altered beyond recognition. “Why weren't the rewards this generous the last time?”

“What a loss! What a huge loss! If I'd known, I'd have joined the exchange compet.i.tion this year no matter what…”

However, before all of this was even over, the attendant went on. “The champion shall be conferred a King and bestowed a plot of land measuring 5,000 square kilometers, 10,000 servants, 100 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals, 5,000 kilograms of elemental crystals, and permanent residence in Dragon Island!”

“What?!”

“Conferred a King?”

The entire venue was thrown into a huge furor at once!

Even the princes and princesses, as well as old-time Saint Domain experts, like President Fred and the others, were astounded by this particular reward! Each and every one of them stared at the emperor in disbelief!

Conferred a King?

How many years had it been since the empire had last conferred someone a King?