Chapter 265: The New Dragon Emperor, Filling Up The Imperial Harem
Compared to the other three major empires’ dismal states, the Meng Lei Empire imperial palace formed a completely different sight.
“Y-Your Majesty!”
Fatty Hart, Hudders, and the others gazed at Meng Lei with expressions of reverence, their countenances somewhat reserved and uncomfortable.
“What’s with the ‘Your Majesty’ this and ‘Your Majesty’ that? There isn’t any ‘Your Majesty’ here but just your friend and the person Meng Lei!”
Meng Lei had already discovered Fatty Hart, Hudders, Joseph, Jonah, Andrew, and the others hidden among the crowd during the ascension ceremony earlier.
He then summoned them into the imperial palace after the ceremony had ended. It had been more than two years since he’d last met them. To be honest, he really missed them somewhat.
“Your Majesty, you’re the monarch while we’re commoners. We mustn’t neglect proper propriety!”
They felt rather overwhelmed by the honor and spoke rather reservedly.
Meng Lei was still the Meng Lei they knew, but his status had undergone a tremendous change by now.
This was especially true after they personally witnessed him slaying a true god. It had given them a clear understanding of Meng Lei’s great strength and power. Who, then, could still bring themselves to behave like how they had in the past in front of him?
They couldn’t! And neither could they return to those days!
“Oh, you guys!”
Meng Lei felt rather resigned. He had finally experienced what solitude felt like.
When the disparity in strength or status between two parties reached a point so vast in size, even friends and family would drift apart.
Even if one had treated them as friends all along, that might not necessarily also be the case for the other party.
Left with no other choice, Meng Lei could only invite them to take a seat and try his best to bring up topics that would help to relieve the tension in the atmosphere. He asked, “Is everything alright in the village, Captain Hudders?”
“Yes, everything is fine!”
At Meng Lei’s question, Hudders jumped onto his feet at once. He said, “During the last couple of years, because the villagers have consumed the divine tree fruits that you bestowed upon them and coupled with the special care given to us by Lord Puhaman, the villagers’ lives have been improving more and more, and their combat power becoming stronger and stronger by the day.”
“I’m glad to hear that.”
Meng Lei let him take a seat. Then, he said, “I see that you’ve also become a Ninth-Grade Warrior now. The energy flow around you is strong and solid. I believe you can break through to become a Saint Domain very soon!”
Hudders hastily said in gratitude, “This is all thanks to Your Majesty’s great blessings!”
In truth, he wasn’t the only one—Joseph, Jonah, Andrew, and the others had also improved tremendously.
Joseph and Andrew had become Eighth-Grade Warriors while Jonah had become an Eighth-Grade Great Magician. Compared to two years ago, they had become much, much stronger!
This didn’t count as much, though. The one with the truly dramatic improvement was Fatty Hart—during the short two years of separation, that fellow had actually already broken through to the Saint Domain stage!
The dragon might around him was pure and vast. Evidently, he had already awakened his Golden Colossal Dragon, and it was a high level of awakening at that—the kind where he could transform into a Golden Colossal Dragon!
“Looks like you haven’t been slacking off during the last two years!” A laughing Meng Lei patted Fatty Hart.
Fatty Hart hastily got up and said, “This is all thanks to Your Majesty—”
Dissatisfied, Meng Lei said fiercely, “Do you believe me when I say that I’ll smack you on the face if you call me Your Majesty again? Have you forgotten what you used to call me?”
“Your... O-old bro!”
Fatty Hart had a troubled look on his face.
“That’s more like it!”
Meng Lei felt much more comfortable now. He said cheerfully, “I’ve said that I would gift you New Dragon Island and make you the new Dragon Emperor of the Colossal Dragons if you could break through to the Saint Domain stage. I’m a man of my word, so New Dragon Island is yours now!”
“O... Old bro, that won’t do. That won’t do!” Fatty Hart shook his hands hastily. He said, “How can you take something said in jest back then so seriously...”
“Jest? I meant what I said!”
Meng Lei glared at him and said, “You’re unhappy because there aren’t any Dragons on New Dragon Island, right? Don’t worry, I have tens of thousands of Colossal Dragons at hand. I’ll send them to New Dragon Island for you later!”
“This... Is that alright?”
Fatty Hart blinked, a hint of excitement surfacing in his small, narrow eyes. Those were tens of thousands of Colossal Dragons!
“It would be a waste to just leave the Lost Continent as it is anyway, so I might as well make use of it. Besides, the tens of thousands of Colossal Dragons are living off me at the moment. They’re close to bankrupting me!”
Meng Lei patted Fatty Hart on the shoulder and said, “Just take it as you’re doing me a favor and properly manage them in my stead. How does that sound?”
“Since you’ve put it that way, it would be rude of me to decline any further, old bro!” Fatty Hart snickered, a wretched expression surfacing on his face once more.
“That’s more like it! Given your current strength, I’m afraid you won’t be able to suppress those Colossal Dragons, though. Every single one of those guys is awfully arrogant and rebellious!”
Meng Lei gave him a smile, and then he brought out a metal-elemental divine core. He said, “Take this and refine it. Once you’ve assimilated it, you likely won’t have any more problems suppressing them.”
“What’s this, old bro?”
Fatty Hart stared at the divine core. He could feel the terrifying divine power energy fluctuations coming from the divine core, and they made him incredibly fearful.
“This is a divine core.”
A smiling Meng Lei said, “One that has already been processed, of course. The original owner’s thoughts, will, memories, divinity, and so on have all been fully cleansed and removed. Only pure power of divinity and laws of nature comprehension have been left behind in it, so you can assimilate it with peace of mind.”
“A d-divine core!”
Fatty Hart shuddered all over, so astonished that he almost jumped. He would have at least heard of it even if he hadn’t actually seen one before! What was a divine core?
It was the sign of a deity!
Once he assimilated the divine core, he would make the leap to becoming a deity in one bound! A lofty deity high up above!
Just what kind of supreme treasure was this?
“O-old bro, this thing is too precious. I can’t accept it! I really can’t!”
Fatty Hart shook his head vehemently. He said, “You’re already treating me with enough kindness, old bro. I’d be too greedy if I take anything else from you!”
“You sure say a lot of crap!”
Meng Lei snorted lightly. Then, he snapped his fingers lightly. A drop of blood shot out of Fatty Hart and landed on the divine core, upon which the divine core instantly embedded itself in between Fatty Hart’s brows and vanished from sight.
“Old bro, w-where’s the divine core?”
Fatty Hart was greatly alarmed.
“It has already integrated itself with you!”
A smiling Meng Lei said, “At your newly-promoted Saint Domain prowess, even though you’ll need a much longer time than a half-deity to completely assimilate the divine core, at least it’s still possible to achieve.
“Don’t run about carelessly from now on. Stay in the imperial palace and fully assimilate it for now, lest someone finds out and attacks you for the divine core.”
“Thank you, old bro!”
Fatty Hart’s eyes reddened as he said, “Old bro, my life is yours now! Be it the most dangerous of places or the most severe of trials, I, Fatty Hart, will not hesitate!”
“Relax, it’s not that serious.”
Meng Lei sighed. “To be honest, I also have my own selfish reasons for doing so. I’ll eventually have to leave Heaven’s Vault Continent and head into the vast Void someday. How lonely would it be to be all by myself? So, I’ll have to bring a few friends together with me, right? That way, I won’t be all alone!”
At this point, Meng Lei then turned to Hudders and the others. “All of you must work hard in your cultivation, too. When you’ve broken through to the Saint Domain stage, we’ll become deities and break through the void together!”
Joseph pointed at himself with a look of disbelief and asked, “Big Brother Meng Lei, am I also capable of becoming a deity?”
Meng Lei smiled and said, “Of course! Thus, all of you must work hard and strive to achieve the Saint Domain stage as soon as possible!”
“Big Brother Meng Lei, we’ll definitely work hard!”
As they ate, drank, and chatted about the past and embarrassing childhood incidents, everyone slowly relaxed and was no longer that reserved. Laughter and chatter went on without pause at the table...
Meng Lei didn’t cultivate during the next few days. Instead, he accompanied the others and had fun in the Imperial City. Only when they were more or less done did he see them off.
The moment he returned to the imperial palace, Puhaman led a group of people and requested an audience with him.
“Didn’t I tell you, Puhaman? You have full authority to handle state affairs on my behalf. You can take care of everything, so there’s no need to ask me for anything!”
“Thank you for your trust in me, Master,” Puhaman said with a wry chuckle before continuing, “But this matter today really requires you to make the decision!”
“What is it?”
Meng Lei was rather surprised.
“The Fairy Empire and the Titan Empire’s envoys are here. They’ve taken the initiative to submit to us.”
An excited Puhaman said, “The Titan Empire is willing to offer up all of their national territory, and only requests that Your Majesty can bestow upon them a plot of land for the Titans to live and proliferate.”
“The Thunder Titan Emperor is surprisingly wise.” Meng Lei smiled and said, “Alright, since he’s so amenable to reason, then I shall fulfill his wishes. Puhaman, draft my decree.”
“Awaiting your instructions, Master!”
“I hereby appoint the Thunder Titan Emperor as the life peer Titan Duke and bestow upon him the Titan Ranges as a fief for the Titans to inhabit,” said an aloof Meng Lei.
“How brilliant of Your Majesty!”
Puhaman bowed slightly.
“Thank you for your kindness, Your Majesty!”
The Titan Empire envoy bowed and gave his thanks. He had lived up to his mission and achieved his diplomatic mission’s objective.
“You may rise!”
Meng Lei waved lightly.
“Master, the Fairy Empire is also willing to offer up the entire Fairy Forests and submit to us. They only request that Your Majesty bestow the Forest of Life upon them as the Fairies’ habitat,” said Puhaman.
“The Fairies have actually also submitted?”
Meng Lei was awfully surprised. He couldn’t help but turn to the Fairy Empire envoy.
The Fairies weren’t weak. On top of that, they were the Fairy Goddess’ worshipers, while the Fairy Goddess herself was a great higher deity. Was she really willing to part with a territory as vast and spacious as the Fairy Forests?
That didn’t make sense!
“Your Majesty, this is Her Holiness’ holy decree,” said the Fairy Empire envoy with a bow.
“The Fairy Goddess’ instructions...”
Meng Lei couldn’t help but become even more curious. However, this wasn’t the time to be puzzled over something like that. He gazed at the Fairy Empire envoy and said, “Since the Fairy Empire has taken the initiative to express goodwill, neither am I an unkind person. We’ll go with the Fairy Empire’s wishes!”
“Thank you, Your Majesty!”
The Fairy Empire envoy also bowed and expressed their gratitude.
“You can deal with the rest of the matters as you deem appropriate, Puhaman,” said Meng Lei with a wave as he started to chase them away.
“There’s one more thing, Master,” said a rather hesitant Puhaman.
“What is it?”
A look of puzzlement came over Meng Lei’s features.
“It’s about the imperial harem!”
Puhaman reminded him, “Now that Master has ascended the throne and become the ruler of the empire, leaving the harem empty would be disadvantageous to the empire’s stability and development. It’s time to fill up the imperial harem, Master!”
“...”
Meng Lei was rather lost for words. “What does an empty harem have anything to do with the empire’s stability? I’m a great true god who’s immortal and indestructible. Is there a need to pass down the throne and legacy?”
A wry smile appeared on Puhaman’s lips at once. He said, “You are indeed immortal, Master, but you’ll eventually leave Heaven’s Vault Continent someday. When that day comes, who are you going to pass down the throne to?”
“We’ll talk about that when the time comes.” Meng Lei waved and said, “Leave if there’s nothing else. I’m tired.”
“This... Yes, Master.”
A resigned Puhaman could only leave with the others.
“Royal consort selection...”
Meng Lei shook his head resolutely. “I’m a man with a wife and a child. How can I do something as immoral as this behind my wife’s back? No! Absolutely not!
“But... Three palaces, six courtyards, and 72 royal consorts! The sound of it alone already excites me...”
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