The reason for His Majesty’s sudden conferment of a King is likely related to the 13th Princess!
Not only is the 13th Princess highly favored by His Majesty, but she’s also amazingly talented and edges out even the most talented Prince Barbarossa. She’s indisputably the strongest among the empire’s youths!
It’s just a shame that she’s half-human, so it’s destined that she’ll never be able to inherit the throne. Therefore, His Majesty intends to settle for the second-best option and confer the 13th Princess as a King?
But the problem is that in order to confer someone as a King, they’d also need to be given their own territory. Although the empire occupies a vast amount of land, all of it is currently presided by their own overlords, so where’s the territory going to come from…
Just as the people let their imaginations run wild, Frederick the 32nd stood, and with a smile, he announced, “Let me tell everyone a piece of good news! Three months ago, a team of adventurers discovered a lost continent in the southeastern waters of the Endless Oceans!”
“A lost continent?” Everyone was greatly shocked by the news.
“The continent hangs isolated above the Endless Oceans to the east of the Dragon God Empire and is obstructed from view by the clouds surrounding it. Thus, prior to this, no one has ever discovered its existence until that team of adventurers entered it by accident.”
Frederick the 32nd went on mirthfully and said, “After the empire’s investigation team’s appraisal, it has been found that the continent occupies a vast territory and has abundant resources.
“The distance from the east to the west spans more than 5,000 kilometers while the distance from the north to the south reaches over 6,000 kilometers. The surface area covers as much as ten million square kilometers. In terms of just territory alone, it’s enough to match up to a dukedom.
“It can be said that this is yet another plot of land and territory that the great Dragon God has bestowed upon our Dragon God Empire! We thank the Dragon God for his benevolence!”
At this point, Frederick the 32nd looked in the direction of the contestants. There was an almost indiscernible hint of mirth in his eyes as he said, “I hereby promise to confer the person that wins the exchange competition and emerges as the champion as the first ruler of this lost continent!”
The moment he said that all the contestants’ breathing turned heavy and ragged. Every one of their hearts was pounding madly—the emperor had instantly incited their wild ambitions!
Ten million square kilometers! Just how wide and vast of a territory was that?!
As long as one could win the title of the champion, they’d become the ruler of that continent! From then on, they would preside over the region, watch over the area that stretched on for thousands upon thousands of miles, and become an existence on the same level as the Fire Dragon King, the Frost Colossal Dragon King, the Black Dragon King, and so on!
Just how great of an allure did that notion hold?
Who would be able to resist it?
Even a “city boy” like Meng Lei had become tempted by a thought like that, let alone people of this world who possessed even stronger concepts of territory?
“The champion title!”
“The champion title is mine!”
“Don’t anyone dare fight with me for it!”
A good number of the contestants’ eyes had become all red—all of them had decided to make a determined effort to strive for the title.
“Alright! I shall hand the upcoming matters over to Duke Eustace now!”
Frederick the 32nd looked at a skinny middle-aged man standing to his left. With a warm and mild smile, he said, “My brother, I’ll leave the matters of the exchange competition to you now.”
“Yes, Your Majesty!”
Duke Eustace bowed in response. Then, he turned to the 7,000-odd contestants, and in a loud voice, he announced, “By His Majesty’s order, I am in charge of hosting the exchange competition this year. I hope that every academy president, teacher-in-charge, related crew member, and every contestant…
“…Lastly, this year’s exchange competition is separated into a total of three segments. They are respectively the Lost Continent Elimination Round, the Half-Plane Matches, and the Mount Dragon God Challenge!
“The first segment is the Lost Continent Elimination Round.” Duke Eustace explained, “Here, the ‘Lost Continent’ refers to the place that His Majesty has just introduced to all of you.
“After some investigation, it has been found that Magical Beasts currently occupy the Lost Continent. There is a great variety of them, and they range all the way from as powerful as Saint Domain Magical Beasts to those as weak as first-grade!
“Your mission is to head to the Lost Continent and hunt the Magical Beasts there. Collect their magic cores and use them to redeem corresponding point rewards.
“The time limit is set at one month! The concrete magic core-to-points redemption rate is as follows:
“1 point per first-grade magic cores.
“5 points per second-grade magic cores.
“10 points per third-grade magic cores.
…
“1,000 points per ninth-grade magic core.
“10,000 points per Saint Domain elementary-level magic core.
“20,000 points per Saint Domain mid-level magic core.
“50,000 points per Saint Domain high-level magic core.
“And 100,000 points per Saint Domain limits-level magic core!
“The top 100 contestants with the most points will advance to the next stage. Those that perish or give up mid-way, those that do not have sufficient points, and those that do not stay for the full month will all be eliminated!”
All the contestants held their breath in concentration and listened quietly to the instructions.
“Later on, we’ll distribute to everyone a specially-made magic communication device each. Should you meet with life-threatening danger, you may dial the magic device to request for help. However… In doing so, you shall be seen as having given up mid-way.”
At this point, Duke Eustace looked at the emperor and asked, “Your Majesty, I’ve finished explaining the competition rules. Is there anything you’d like to supplement?”
“I won’t add that much.” Frederick the 32nd stood and said, “All of you are the empire’s geniuses and talents. Every death among you is a loss to the empire!
“Therefore, let’s make a small change to the Elimination Round’s rules. During the Elimination Round, you may snatch magic cores from others, but taking another person’s life is prohibited!
“Remember, every move you make will be under our supervision. Should anyone violate the rules and harm or kill others without authorization, they’ll be eliminated from the competition!”
At this point, Frederick the 32nd heaved a sigh and explained, “The reason why I’m changing the rules at the last moment is only because I hope that all of you won’t end up like the previous years’ contestants, where not even 1/10 of them were left after the competition, causing the empire to suffer the loss of countless elites for nothing!”
Not even 1/10 of them were left?
The contestants’ hearts trembled at the thought.
What a low survival rate that was!
There were a total of 7,848 contestants this year. If not even 1/10 of them were left, then didn’t that mean that there weren’t even 1,000 survivors?
What the hell?
From this, all the contestants could tell just how brutal the past competitions had been.
“Thank you for your concern, Your Majesty!” All the contestants were overflowing with gratitude at once.
“Alright!” Frederick the 32nd nodded lightly.
“His Majesty is kind and benevolent. On account of how cultivation hasn’t been easy for all of you, he has specially altered the competition rules. Nevertheless, all of you mustn’t be careless!”
Duke Eustace reminded them. “There are countl
ess Magical Beasts in the Lost Continent; just the Saint Domain ones alone already number several hundred. The place is fraught with dangers, and a moment of carelessness would lead to one perishing in the jaws of a Magical Beast and dying a terrible death. Do take care!”
“Yes!” All the contestants responded loudly.
“We shall activate the magic circle one hour later and send all of you to the Lost Continent. If there’s anything any of you still needs to say, instruct, or prepare, then have it done immediately!”
Whoaaa!!
The contestants went into a furor at once, and all of them approached their own respective teachers-in-charge.
“Contestants from the Black Dragon Kingdom, come this way!”
“Those from the Frost Kingdom…”
Meng Lei, Joel, Francis, and the rest of the 52 Fire Dragon Kingdom contestants were also summoned by President Fred and the other five academy presidents.
“The sudden change in the competition rules this time is something that we didn’t expect.”
The six academy presidents looked stern as they said, “With regard to the Lost Continent, we also hadn’t heard even a peep about it prior to this. However, since His Majesty has set that place as the competition ground…”
After a slew of instructions and reminders, the six academy presidents finally asked, “Is there anything else that any of you needs to hand over or prepare? If so, hurry and tell us now so that we can get someone to get it done.”
“No, we’re all prepared!”
“Presidents, do any of you have spare spatial magic devices lying around? Can I borrow them for the time being? The more, the better, and the bigger, the better. I want to use them to store Magical Beast carcasses!”
Chapter 158: Spirit Dragon Ring, King Kroc
Translator: Atlas Studios Editor: Atlas Studios
Naturally, Meng Lei was the one who had raised that request. After all, he was the only one among the 52 Fire Dragon Kingdom contestants that would dare make such a request.
Borrowing spatial magic devices?
To store Magical Beast carcasses?
All the contestants’ gazes fell onto Meng Lei as one, the corners of their lips spasming. They felt a pressing urge to punch that braggart dead.
What the heck!?
All of us have our hearts in our mouths at the thought of heading to the Lost Continent, lest Magical Beasts kill us with just one smack in a moment of carelessness!
On the other hand, you are already thinking about borrowing spatial magic devices to store Magical Beast carcasses? Are you a devil?
“Meng Lei, Magical Beast carcasses won’t get you points.” President Fred shook his head and said with a wry smile, “It’s no use no matter how many you collect.”
“I know I can’t redeem points with Magical Beast carcasses, but I can sell them for money. Think about it.” A smiling Meng Lei said, “One Saint Domain Magical Beast carcass can sell for ten billion gold coins, so ten of them means 100 billion gold coins, and 100 of them means one trillion gold coins! If I throw them away, I’ll be struck by lightning!”
“100 of them...”
“One trillion gold coins...”
The six academy presidents’ lip corners spasmed in response to his words.
You sure are daring in your imagination! 100 Saint Domain Magical Beast carcasses? Why don’t you just ascend straight to heaven?
Despite thinking so, President Fred still brought out a spatial ring after a moment’s hesitation and handed it to Meng Lei.
“Thank you, President!” Meng Lei nodded incessantly and said his thanks. “Don’t worry, President Fred. As long as I’m still breathing, I won’t lose your spatial ring for sure!”
“Good to hear that!”
“Here’s my spatial ring. Take it and use it!”
“Here’s mine, too!”
...
An hour went by very quickly. All the contestants reassembled once more, and then, with the spatial rings and magic communication devices distributed to them in their possession, they entered the teleportation magic circle.
Buzz!
With a flash from the teleportation magic circle, a group of people vanished without a trace.
Then, with another flash, the second group of people also vanished.
Ten minutes later, all the contestants were gone.
As they watched the backs of the contestants disappearing into the magic circle, the teachers-in-charge sighed one after another. “Here’s hoping that more of them can make it back. May the Dragon God watch over you!”
“May the Dragon God watch over you!”
When everyone was gone, and the magic circle returned to total peace and quiet, the Fighting Dragon Academy president finally turned to President Fred. He lowered his voice and asked, “Fred, if I wasn’t mistaken, the spatial ring that you lent Meng Lei just now is probably the Spirit Dragon Ring, right?”
President Fred glanced at him and replied, “What, can’t I do that?”
“Fred, the Spirit Dragon Ring is a half-divine weapon that you obtained in the Ancient Crown Mage Tower. With an existential plane fragment sealed within it, the space inside the ring is astonishingly big. It’s your baby, isn’t it?”
The Fighting Dragon Academy president exclaimed in a low voice, “You can’t even bear to allow others to touch it usually, yet you’ve actually lent it to him. You sure are composed about it! Aren’t you afraid that that kid will lose it?”
“I trust Meng Lei!”
...
The world spun after the contestants entered the teleportation magic circle. By the time they saw light again, Meng Lei and the others were already on a tiny island.
The island was truly very tiny. Measuring less than one kilometer in breadth and length, it was just like a reef and floated all by itself above the boundless ocean!
Howling gusts of wind blew across the ocean, making churning, surging great waves. It was as if they wanted to blow the people away together with the island itself.
The sky was overcast, and their surroundings were also covered in gray, gloomy fog. Visibility was very low—the furthest they could see was only about 100 meters away.
“Where’s the Lost Continent?”
The contestants turned and looked about.
“Look over there!” someone shouted.
The contestants looked over one after another upon the shout, only to see a barely-visible big and tall shadow in the depths of the thick fog. Waves splashed loudly as they crashed against the shadow.
A Blue Dragon Kingdom contestant exclaimed, “There’s land over there!”
Then, he flitted toward the shadow. His toes tapped lightly against the ocean surface as he stepped across the waters. With a few leaps, he’d disappeared into the depths of the fog.
“Let’s go over, too!”
At the sight of that, the remaining contestants also demonstrated their own abilities. They either rode on the wind, stepped across the waters, or rode on magic carpets... All of them flitted toward the shadow one by one.
“Lord Meng Lei, let’s head over, too!” A few Fire Dragon Kingdom contestants suggested.
Meng Lei replied with a slight nod, “Let’s go!”
In the twinkling of an eye, they had covered the several hundred-meters-long distance. The shadow in the depths of the fog was actually a black cliff that reached as tall as 1,000 feet.
Churning waves crashed against the cliff, breaking down into tiny droplets and turning into innumerable silver pearls that dissipated with the wind.
The black cliff was incredibly steep. Surrounding it were jagged reefs and messy, chaotic rocks—it was obvious that no one had ever stepped into the place before.
“An island?”
“No! It’s likely the continent!”
A smile appeared on Meng Lei’s features, and he flew across the 1,000-feet-tall cliff. Then, an entirely different world appeared before his eyes.
Endless forests where birds soare
d!
Mountains that stretched on and on as the howls of beasts rang out!
Primeval and ancient, yet brimming with life and vitality!
“So, this is the Lost Continent?”
Ol’ Amos popped out and gazed into the far distance at the vast and boundless forests. He remarked, “Never would I have thought that such a continent would actually be hidden in the Endless Oceans. The Creator’s wonders are indeed beyond one’s imagination!”
“Didn’t you mention in the past that the deities broke Heaven’s Vault Continent and that many of the broken fragments drifted above the Endless Oceans?” Meng Lei pointed at the Lost Continent and said, “Perhaps the Lost Continent had evolved from exactly one of those broken fragments!”
Heaven’s Vault Continent was surrounded by an endless and boundless ocean—in other words, the Endless Oceans.
Within the Endless Oceans lived countless terrifying marine Magical Beasts. It was extremely tough for terrestrial creatures to get a foothold in the ocean with the place fraught with dangers.
Thus, nobody knew whether or not other continents existed in the Endless Oceans—after all, no one had ever explored it.
“A legend is ultimately still just a legend. Who can say for sure what exactly the truth is?”
Ol’ Amos sighed and added, “However, since the Lost Continent has been discovered, then its ownership will definitely go to the Dragon God Empire.
“Kid, step on it and strive for the champion title. Become a King and establish a kingdom, and become the master of this continent and bring back the Krocs’ glory and magnificence!”
Meng Lei raised an eyebrow and asked, “Do you really think that highly of me, Ol’ President?”
“Duh, of course!” Ol’ Amos rolled his eyes and said, “Your battle capabilities are always being boosted in such an inexplicable manner. It’s to the extent that you can even easily kill the Saint Domain-level Golden-Winged Holy Light Tiger now. In terms of craziness, is there anyone who can beat you?”
“I’ll get embarrassed if you praise me so much!”
Meng Lei laughed sordidly and added, “You can’t really say that, though. I heard that there are quite a fair number of geniuses in this year’s competition. None of them are people who are easy to get along with.
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