“He’s succeeded! Big Brother Galen has succeeded!” Helen, whose pretty face was all red, was breathing heavily. She couldn’t be any more excited, as if she had been the one who had averted the tsunami disaster.
“T-that was too impressive!”
“Galen’s so impressive!”
“Is that what a Saint Domain is like?”
It was only then that the people finally regained their senses. They were so excited that they couldn’t help but cheer loudly. However, Galen, who was standing proudly above the ocean, didn’t turn around—because that low, deep booming wasn’t totally gone yet.
“What’s that sound?”
“Everyone, quieten down! Quieten down!”
“Listen, what’s that sound?”
The cheering masses quietened down one after another. A deep, low, and resounding rumbling traveled over from somewhere. Right on the heels of it, the Blue Afterglow Island started to shake lightly underneath their feet.
“Why are you shaking, Old Jack?”
“I... I’m not! Why say that about me when you yourself are also shaking?!”
“An earthquake! It’s an earthquake!”
The two old men exchanged a look. At once, they cried out in shock and horror, their countenances filled with extreme fear and panic!
“An earthquake?”
Everyone else’s countenances also changed upon hearing their outcry. True enough, they indeed discovered that the entire Blue Afterglow Island was shaking lightly. In fact, even the surface of the ocean nearby was also shaking vigorously.
Boom!!
Blue Afterglow Island began to shake more and more intensely. Rocks rolled off mountains as trees and vegetation started to sway forcefully. People on the island stumbled back and forth, almost unable to stand stably on their feet anymore.
Boom!
Suddenly, as though a nuclear warhead had gone off, a great, deafening explosion rang out. At the same time, the mountain in the center of Blue Afterglow Island was instantly blasted right up into the sky.
The next moment, incredibly thick smoke burst into the sky, reaching all the way into the clouds in an instant with large amounts of dust and falling rocks meshed in between.
“This, this...”
A shocked Old Jack exclaimed, “It’s a volcanic eruption!”
Then, he hastily shouted at the top of his lungs, “Hurry! Get onto the boat! The volcano is about to erupt! It’ll be too late if we stay any longer!”
It was as if his words had snapped everyone out of their daze, and they dashed toward their own respective boats. Old Jack, his son, and his daughter-in-law also followed behind the crowd and rushed toward their boat.
Boom!
Another thunderous explosion rang out right at this point. The lava flow that looked as if it were formed from boiling soup rushed into the sky and shot right into the clouds high up above.
Upon reaching the highest point, the lava flow instantly burst and spread into the surroundings as though celestial maidens scattering flowers from the sky!
Splatter, splatter, splatter!
Large amounts of boiling lava, together with scorching-hot rocks, splattered down onto every corner of the little island. Some crashed into the trees, causing them to instantly burst into flames, while some crashed onto the ground, smashing large pits into it.
At the same time, an overwhelming amount of volcanic ash also spewed forth from the volcano, spreading into the surroundings at speed as high as 400 kilometers per hour. Everywhere that the volcanic ash enveloped turned deep and dark, with the sun nowhere in sight as if the very depths of hell itself.
“Run!”
“Hurry and run!”
“We can’t! We can’t get away at all!”
How could mere humans contend against the wrath of nature?
Everyone lost all hope as they watched the boiling lava wantonly splattering everywhere and the volcanic ash surging toward them. Even if they had boarded their boats, how far could they flee?
They couldn’t escape! Not at all!
There was no way he could get away at all!
“Big Brother Galen! S-save me!”
Farren suddenly screamed at the top of his lungs at this point. Although drowned out by the rumbling, booming explosions, his sharp, shrill voice was nevertheless still a reminder to everyone else.
Oh yes, there’s still Galen!
“Galen!”
“Help!”
“Big Brother Galen!”
Helen also looked toward Galen.
Whoosh!
A light breeze blew past them, and someone was already right above them—it was Galen.
“Don’t worry, no one’s going to die!”
Galen smiled at everyone. A chilly current shot forth from his fingertip with a casual point of his finger, freezing all the volcanic ash as it spread into the surroundings.
A brief moment later, a gigantic “ice flower” appeared in the sky. Whatever color the volcanic ash was, was exactly the color of the ice flower. The sight was exceptionally elegant and beautiful.
As Galen blew at it casually, the gigantic ice flower then shattered into expansive ice shards that descended from above as though endless amounts of floating snowflakes, forming a breathtakingly beautiful sight.
“It’s gorgeous!”
Helen couldn’t help but gasp in admiration. The beautiful sight also captured everyone else, and they couldn’t help but let out several exclamations of astonishment.
With a smile, Galen then shot toward the erupting volcano with a flash!
It was as if the boiling lava and lethal volcanic ash were non-existent to Galen.
With a leap, he jumped right into the erupting volcano opening and disappeared from sight.
“Big Brother Galen!”
Helen was so frightened that she almost jumped right up, her heart leaping into her mouth right away.
The others were also awfully nervous. Jumping straight into the mouth of a volcano? That was practically a moth flying straight into the fire!
What none of them expected was that in just the span of a few breaths, the ground was no longer shaking, the lava was no longer flowing, and the volcanic ash was no longer spewing. The low, deep rumbling was also gone!
Instead, an astonishing chill was emanating from the volcanic opening and spreading into the surroundings.
“He’s... succeeded?”
“Galen has succeeded?”
The people wept tears of joy.
“Where’s Big Brother Galen?”
Helen’s gaze was fixed on the volcanic opening, her eyes filled with worry.
“Don’t worry, Big Sis! Big Brother Galen’s so strong. How could anything possibly go wrong?”
A giggling Farren then asked, “By the way, Big Sis, what exactly did you want to say to Big Brother Galen just now?”
At once, Helen’s pretty face became as red as a tomato, and she glared at her younger brother before she retorted, “Young brats like you shouldn’t meddle in an adult’s matters!”
“Hehe, I know what it is even if you don’t say it, Big Sis!”
Farren waggled his eyebrows and winked at her, only to receive a twisting on the ear from Helen in exchange, causing him to cry out loudly in pain and constantly plead for mercy.
A figure flew out of the volcano at this point—it was Galen, who had gone in just now.
“Big Brother Galen!”
At the sight of him, Helen quickly went forward. She asked nervously, “Are you alright?”
“How can I possibly not be?”
Galen chuckled softly as he shook his head. “You guys, on the other hand, didn’t get hurt just now, right?”
“N-no!”
“Big Brother Galen, you’re simply too amazing!”
Farren rushed toward him, stars of adoration sparkling in his little eyes. “Big Brother Galen, please teach me a thing or two! I’d like to be as strong as you, too!”
“Farren!”
/>
At the sight, Old Jack hurriedly chastised Farren. Then, to Galen, he said respectfully, “Esteemed Lord Saint Domain, if Farren has offended you, please forgive him...”
“Grandpa Jack, you’re treating me too much like an outsider if you say that.” Galen waved and said, “Don’t forget that I’m a deckhand that you hired.”
“That won’t do! That won’t do, Lord Saint Domain!” Old Jack waved repeatedly.
Deckhand?
You, a great Saint Domain, as my deckhand?
Never mind when I hadn’t known your identity previously. Now that I do, I wouldn’t dare to treat you as my deckhand even if you give me a whole lot of guts!
“Never mind! Never mind!”
Galen couldn’t help but sigh. He knew that his wandering journey was about to end now.
Now that everyone knew his identity, it would only cause discomfort in them if he were to stay any longer.
Suddenly, Galen turned to Farren and asked, “Didn’t you want to become strong, Farren?”
“Yes, yes!”
Farren nodded lightning-quick.
“Do you want to learn Battle Aura or magic?” A smiling Galen asked, “The former makes you a Warrior while the latter makes you Magician. Which do you want to be?”
“This...”
Farren became troubled at once. After hemming and hawing for a while, he finally said, “I’d like to become a powerful expert who can freeze the tsunami with a wave and suppress the volcano with a flick of his fingers just like you, Big Brother Galen!”
“A Magician? That’s a great choice!”
Galen chuckled and said, “Look for me at my place after you get home. I’ll wait for you!”
Then, Galen rose into the air and vanished into the distance like a comet.
“Galen’s left!”
Waves churned in everyone’s hearts as they stared in the direction he disappeared in. They were exceptionally excited.
“A Saint Domain!”
“We’ve actually been saved by a Saint Domain!”
“Old Jack, you and your family are probably gonna strike gold this time!”
“I’m so green with envy, Old Jack!”
“Big Brother Galen!”
Helen’s pretty eyes twinkled as she suddenly made up her mind about something.
Chapter 252: Abolishing The Stratification System, Dismissing The Nobles
Causeway Bay was a beautiful little ocean bay embedded in the ocean like a crescent moon.
The waters were azure blue and the sands white and clean. Lush emerald green plants grew lushly and densely, forming a picturesque view.
Not far from the shore was a hill, and at the foot of it was a fishing village named Causeway Village.
Helen and her family were villagers from Causeway Village. Meng Lei flew over to the foot of the hill and went straight to his place of residence—a cave.
The cave wasn’t very big, but it nevertheless still consisted of three rooms—the bedroom, kitchen, and storeroom—and a living room. During the last half a year, this was where Meng Lei had been living.
A nest of gold or silver will never be as comfortable as one’s own dingy old nest!
Meng Lei entered the cave, grabbed a ladle full of water, and poured it straight into his mouth. Then, with a leap, he flew right onto the hammock.
After spending a good half a year outside, it’s time to go back, thought Meng Lei to himself.
While traveling around the Golden Archipelago during this half a year and slightly over, he had visited several places and also increased his span of experience and knowledge before finally coming to Causeway Bay.
Meng Lei had lived in a small seaside city in his past life and frequently went out to sea to fish with his parents when he was young. His youth was spent by the seaside.
Half a year ago, he had coincidentally seen Old Jack’s deckhand hiring notice and subsequently became his deckhand. He spent everyday fishing, enjoying the sea breeze, eating fish...
Meng Lei felt as if he had returned to his childhood years back when the days were simple, free, and worry-free...
“What a shame that days like these will come to an end soon.” Meng Lei sighed and cast a glance at his stats interface.
It had been slightly over half a year, yet there had surprisingly been no changes in the stats interface. This was also the first time that his stats interface had remained the same for such a long time since Meng Lei had first gotten it.
It wasn’t so much as he couldn’t change anything, but because Meng Lei had deliberately been self-indulgent and had ignored the system all this while.
Meng Lei thought to himself, It’s about time to go back.
Then, he left behind a divinity projection of himself and left.
“Big Brother Galen, we’re back!”
...
“Master, you’re back!”
Bubbles, Klaus, Nadja, and Seisia bowed in greeting to Meng Lei.
The aura around them was majestic, and their divine power strong and vast—this was because they had assimilated the divine cores.
“All of you are more or less done with the assimilation?”
Meng Lei remarked with a calm smile, “So, that means all of you have become lesser deities. Not bad!”
“Thank you for kindly bestowing the divine cores upon us, Master!”
The four of them hastily bowed and expressed their gratitude.
Their strength had gone through a tremendous change after they had assimilated the divine cores.
Even though they could be said to be among the weakest lesser deities out there because they had only just assimilated the divine cores, a lesser deity was ultimately still a lesser deity and an actual true god. This was far beyond what a half-deity could compare to.
Therefore, the gratitude that the four held toward Meng Lei was sincere and true.
“We’ve lingered long enough in the Golden Archipelago. It’s about time we return.”
Meng Lei sighed as he said, “But someone has to be stationed here in the Golden Archipelago. Who among you is willing to stay behind?”
“This...”
The four of them looked at one another, all somewhat troubled. To be honest, all of them wished to follow Meng Lei.
Meng Lei was a generous person, bestowing upon them both divine weapons and divine cores. Where were they supposed to find a Master like that?
But staying behind had its own benefits, too. One would oversee an entire region from then on and would become a true-blue local emperor of a region.
“You wily old foxes!”
Meng Lei was rendered speechless. Without a second thought, he whipped out the Abyss Blade Demon’s companion machete and said, “Whoever is willing to stay behind and be stationed at the Golden Archipelago shall receive this blood-red machete!”
The four of them perked up, their gazes all falling onto the blood-red machete as looks of desire flashed across their eyes.
However, Bubbles, Nadja, and Seisia’s gazes shifted away after only a quick glance. Compared to the machete, they were still more willing to be by Meng Lei’s side.
“In that case, this machete will be Klaus’ now.”
Meng Lei handed the blood-red machete over to Klaus and said, “Remember to guard the Golden Archipelago property well. Don’t mess it up, get it?”
“Don’t worry, Master! I will definitely do my best!” replied Klaus as he gave his promise.
“One more thing, by the way!”
Something occurred to Meng Lei, and he said, “Not only are you to watch after the Golden Archipelago, but you are also to put in great effort to improve the islanders’ standards of living and their own combat abilities.
“If the conditions allow for it, try your best to build Battle Aura and magic academies and let those children attend school.”
“As Master commands!”
Klaus nodded heavily.
“Do your best!”
Meng Lei gave Klaus a meaningfu
l look. Then, he left with the other three.
“Take care, Master!”
...
“Are you returning to the Dragon God Empire, Master?”
“Yeap!”
“It’s been more than a year since we’ve left. I wonder how the Dragon God Empire is and whether that fellow Puhaman has been slacking off? See if I don’t give him a good beating if he has!”
Meng Lei wasn’t too sure about the Dragon God Empire’s development progress, either. However, from the changes in worshiper numbers during the past year or so, he could nonetheless still sense a thing or two.
During the last two years or so, his worshiper numbers had increased exponentially and reached a terrifying total that numbered dozens of billions!
He gained close to ten million worshipers practically every day. Some came from the Dragon God Empire, some from the Titan Empire, and some from the underground world.
Out of all the worshipers, 70% of them were from the Dragon God Empire!
That equated to a few dozen billions of worshipers!
This showed that Puhaman hadn’t been slacking off. Rather, he was doing a pretty good job at taking care of the Dragon God Empire. Or at least, he was doing great when it came to spreading faith.
The four of them passed through the eastern Endless Oceans waters and arrived at the Dragon God Empire. Then, they saw the changes in the Dragon God Empire.
“Master, from what we’ve seen so far, it seems like all the Dragon God statues in the Dragon God Empire are gone?”
“Take a closer look. They aren’t gone; rather, they’ve been changed to statues of Master!”
“That is certainly so!”
Meng Lei felt very gratified.
Originally, apart from small, remote mountainous regions like the Magical Beast Village, every city and town that was on a slightly larger scale would contain a Dragon God Cathedral and Dragon God statues for people to pray to the Dragon God and to collect power of faith.
However, both the Dragon God Cathedrals and the Dragon God statues were gone during his return this time. In their place were instead his temples and statues.
There was an endless stream of worshipers, and various praying activities were constantly taking place. Many joss sticks burned within the temples and formed a flourishing sight. As they traveled on, they realized that this was the case in almost the whole of the Dragon God Empire.
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