Picking Up Attributes From Today - Chapter 249

Chapter 249: Lesser Deities, Distributing Divine Cores
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios

Lieyang Zhan hastily returned. The moment he got back on the Blazing Sun Island, all the Blazing Sun Clan directors came out to receive him. Their eyes were filled with both hope and apprehension.
Lieyang Zhan heaved a long sigh. He said with a shake of his head, “The Blazing Sun Clan won’t be annihilated, but our emergence plan can now be considered a complete failure!”
Lieyang Zhan recounted everything that had taken place on the Golden Dragon-Lion Continent right away, upon which everyone broke out in cold sweat, lingering fear filling their hearts.
Half-deities! And four of them at that!
The mysterious Great God Meng Lei, too!
They were the ones that had killed Thackeray and annihilated the Golden Dragon-Lions!
“Four half-deities! How laughable of us to even think of taking the opportunity to emerge as a power, replace the Golden Dragon-Lions, and become the new masters of the Golden Archipelago. What a gross overestimation of our own capabilities!”
“Totally! The Blazing Sun Clan would probably have followed in the Golden Dragon-Lions’ footsteps and been wiped out by them before we can even emerge…”
“That’s enough! Say no more!”
Lieyang Zhan said with an awful look on his face, “What’s most pressing is to tide over the crisis right before us now. Otherwise, the clan will still face the threat of annihilation!”
“Yes, yes! Grandmaster is right!”
Everyone nodded hurriedly. After all, according to the grandmaster, the four half-deities were going to do an inspection in a month’s time. Should they be dissatisfied, they would still have to die, regardless.
A worried director asked, “What should the clan do now, Grandmaster?”
“I’ve discussed this with the other clans’ grandmasters while on the way back.”
Lieyang Zhan said in a low, deep voice, “Half-deities are totally above run-of-the-mill treasures. What they really place importance in… is power of faith!”
“Power of faith?”
“That’s right, power of faith!”
Lieyang Zhan nodded heavily. “Isn’t power of faith the exact reason why the Golden Dragon-Lions had occupied the Golden Archipelago? Therefore, we can start with power of faith!”
“Just tell us what we should do, Grandmaster! We’ll do exactly what you say!”
“Yes! For the sake of the clan’s survival, we’ll listen to everything the Grandmaster says!”
“Since the Great God Meng Lei places great importance on power of faith, then we’ll help to spread his faith. In summary—construct temples and statues!”
Lieyang Zhan instructed gravely, “Pass down the order! Everyone is to collect timber, stone, gold, and other materials and construct temples and statues on every island.
“Get all the Magicians in the clan to help out. We’ll strive to build a temple and construct a statue on every island within ten days.
“On the day that the temples are completed, we, the Blazing Sun Clan, shall take the lead to pray to the Great God Meng Lei. We’ll be a good role model and do everything we can to spread his faith!”
“Yes, sir!”
…
Just like that, a large-scale temple construction project was launched. This wasn’t just limited to the Blazing Sun Clan’s turf; other islands were also building temples.
The rich and powerful clans were no longer warring, no longer seizing food supplies and weaponry, and no longer recruiting warships and soldiers, to the common people’s astonishment. Instead, they were building temples.
“What kind of situation is this?”
“I have no idea…”
Under the common people’s puzzled eyes and in fewer than ten days, temples worshiping the Great God Meng Lei started to sprout like mushrooms after rain.
Large temples were constructed on large islands, while small temples were constructed on small islands. Every temple housed a statue each.
One must admit that the Magicians of this world could really be said to be the world’s best architectural construction experts. In under ten days, the Golden Archipelago was filled with temples.
Their efficiency was truly flabbergasting!
After the temples were built, large forces like the Blazing Sun Clan took the lead to pray to Meng Lei. Some families went even further, conducting small prayer ceremonies every three days and big ones every seven days. They were more passionate in praying to Meng Lei than to their own fathers and ancestors!
Although their passion was somewhat too over-the-top, they nevertheless achieved excellent results as role models.
Several dubious islanders also attempted worshiping the new god, and then, incredible things happened!
Those with disabilities… were cured!
Those with illnesses… recovered!
Those facing fertility issues… became pregnant!
The marine beasts that frequently attacked the islands and gave the people a huge headache… also disappeared!
The islanders were incredibly poverty-stricken from the start. Thus, these efficacious incidents brought about astounding effects.
More and more residents entered the temples and started to pray to the Great God Meng Lei for various things.
For a while, Meng Lei’s faith took root and sprouted in every island, gradually beginning to develop and strengthen.
A month later, 20% of the islanders had become Meng Lei’s worshipers. Two months later, the number increased to 40%.
A year later, the number reached a frightening 70%. How much was 70%?
Out of 10 billion islanders, 7 billion of them worshiped Meng Lei. This number was even bigger than the total population on Earth! 1
The four half-deities were highly satisfied with the results. After laboring for a good half a year, they were finally seeing results. Their efforts hadn’t gone to waste.
The only problem was that Meng Lei still hadn’t awakened. This sorely disappointed the four half-deities.
They were just like children who had done well—eager for Meng Lei’s acknowledgment!
Of course, if it pleased him, it would be even better if Meng Lei could bestow a little something or two upon them.
In the Golden Dragon-Lions’ palace…
A year had passed. The ice that had frozen Meng Lei’s whole sea of consciousness gradually melted. At last, only a lump of ice surrounding the divine spirit flame remained. 1
Crack!
Crack!
All of a sudden…
A crisp sound rang out. Tiny, densely-packed cracks formed on the surface of the large ice lump freezing the divine spirit flame. As more and more cracks started to form…
Boom!
The ice lump exploded violently! The divine spirit flame started to blaze once more, and the Soul Ice Marrow that had melted integrated itself into the golden divine spirit flame all at once.
Boom!
As though it had been doused with a few buckets of petrol, the divine spirit flame instantly erupted and started to surge and blaze even more exuberantly, fiercely, and fervently!
Boom!
At the same time, a terrifying spiritual might also spread outward from Meng Lei, instantly sweeping through the entire Golden Dragon-Lions’ base.
“Master!!”
The four half-deities standing guard outside jumped in shock, almost flattened to the ground.
The force of the aura was simply too fearsome. It felt rather unbearable, as though a great, lofty mountain was weighing down on them.
“Master has become even stronger!”
The four half-deities exchanged a look, a sense of mortification coming over them. Previously, Meng Lei could already slay even a true god-level Demon Lord with his blood-red scythe.
Yet now, he had gotten stronger again. His speed of improvement was practically horrifying!
Improve? He had indeed improved!
As the person involved himself, Meng Lei could sense this the clearest. He could clearly feel the change in his divine spirit—it wasn’t just a hundred times more powerful than before!
When he spread his divine spirit outward, it could easily cover several thousand miles of where he was. Nothing within the range could escape his divine spirit’s inspection. There was practically nowhere to hide.
“My divine spirit has actually gone from the pinnacle-grade half-deity stage to the mid-grade lesser deity stage. This level of improvement is truly rather dramatic!”
A smile appeared on Meng Lei’s visage as he gazed at his stats interface. He was very satisfied with his upgrade this time.
Host: Meng Lei
Race: Human (Primeval Bloodline: Primordial Human <16%>, Assimilated Bloodlines: Gods-Slaying Rat, Divine Netherworld Phoenix, Hundred-Armed Giant)
Wealth: 64.41 million Laws of Nature Origin Crystals
Physical Body Constitution: Metal-Origin Divine Body (1%)
Spirit: Lesser Deity (Mid-Grade)
Power of Divinity: 0.1 Divinity Crystal
Laws of Nature: Metal-Dark Fusion (100%), Water-Fire Fusion (100%), Earth-Wind Fusion (100%), Wood-Earth Fusion (100%), Fire-Thunder-Ice Fusion (0.1%), Earth-Wood-Thunder Fusion (0.1%), Metal-Dark-Ice Fusion (0.1%)
“Now that my divine spirit has strengthened so much, the cost of buying credit to assimilate laws of nature should be lower now, right?”
With that in mind, Meng Lei promptly contacted the system. As expected…
“Ding! Raising Triple-Elemental Laws of Nature assimilation rate by 1% costs 100,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals.”
“It has gone down by so much? Not bad, not bad!”
Meng Lei rejoiced at the news. Previously, it had cost 1,000,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals to raise the assimilation rate of triple-elemental laws of nature, yet it cost only 100,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals now.
Such a price was completely within an acceptable range. If raising it by 1% required 100,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals, then 100% would require 1,000,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals! 3
1,000,000 Laws of Nature Origin Crystals weren’t a lot!
Meng Lei thought to himself, I’ll wait before I raise it, though. When my divine spirit becomes even stronger, the price will definitely fall even further! It’s not too late to buy credit again at that time!
His gaze then shifted away from the stats interface and toward his sea of consciousness.
As the blazing sun, his divine spirit flame was burning even more exuberantly and fiercely than before. A million golden rays lit up his boundless sea of consciousness, and attached all around his divine spirit were innumerable milky-white threads!
They were connected to his divine spirit flame like antennas. Dense and packed, their numbers were endless.
“So many threads of faith?”
Meng Lei was rather taken aback.
Even a modest estimate of the number of threads would put it at at least a few billion. This would represent a few billion worshipers, but—he didn’t have a few billion worshipers?
Bewildered, Meng Lei connected to one of the threads of faith, and then he heard an aged and hoarse, but exceptionally pious voice.
“Oh the supreme Great God Meng Lei, I am Constantine Macaric. I’m going out to sea tomorrow. Please watch over me and let me return safely!”
“He’s a Golden Archipelago resident!”
Meng Lei deduced the worshiper’s background in an instant. Then, he picked another thread of faith and began to listen.
“Oh noble and great Lord, I am a worker at Zebra Island’s pig farm. I am sick and tired of my current life. Please bless me and let me find a Battle Aura manual…”
“Zebra Island? It’s someone from the Golden Archipelago again!”
Meng Lei checked the threads one by one and realized that all the worshipers were from the Golden Archipelago.
He spread his divine cognition into the surroundings and saw several statues, as well as groups of worshipers on their way to pray to him.
Meng Lei found this very incredible. All he had done was obviously just having a night’s sleep.
That’s right!
A night’s sleep, that was all! After consuming the Soul Ice Marrow, he had gotten a good, comfortable night’s sleep!
“The Golden Archipelago residents have become worshipers of me after a night’s sleep? Isn’t this a little too weird?
“No, power of faith can’t possibly come about for no reason. Something must have happened!”
Knowing that his four half-deities subordinates were outside, Meng Lei promptly summoned them for clarification.
“Congratulations on completing your seclusion, Master!”
The four of them bowed respectfully.
Meng Lei looked at the four of them and asked, “What’s up with the Golden Archipelago’s power of faith?”
“Master!”
A respectful Bubbles answered, “During this one year when you were in seclusion, we were very bored, so we decided to spread your faith a little. The effects are somewhat satisfactory!”
“A year? A year has passed?”
A huge jolt went through Meng Lei. He had only taken a rest, yet a year had passed. It wasn’t like he was a pig! When did he become capable of sleeping such long hours?
“Yes, Master!”
Bubbles nodded. Then, he said with a smile, “Master, you needn’t be puzzled. At a cultivation level like ours, even just a nap would see long periods of time passing, not to mention when you’re cultivation in seclusion.”
Meng Lei nodded slowly. Then, with a wave, four divine powers appeared in his palm. They twinkled with black, silver, cyan, and gold divine glows, respectively, and gave off fearsome divine power energy fluctuations.
“Divine cores!”