Chapter 198: Divine Remains Crystal

Upon entering the secret chamber, Donald wasn’t dazzled by the piles of gold and silver treasures. Instead, his gaze immediately focused on a table in the center, resembling an altar. In front of the table, he found another dark elf—more precisely, its corpse. It was a young dark elf girl, but her once beautiful features were now completely ruined, covered in red sores and ulcers. One hand rested on the ground, the other on the table, and her expression still revealed deep resentment.

On the table in front of the girl lay a square box about the size of a human head. The box was open, revealing a stone that resembled raw jade or crystal. It was this fist-sized stone that continuously emitted strange energy radiation. Donald guessed that these people intended to enter the treasure chamber to steal its riches but opened the box without knowing the dangers involved. This young dark elf girl was unlucky—she was the one who opened the box, being the closest and thus the first to suffer from the strange energy, with no time to escape. Unlike the others, who, though severely damaged by the radiation after fleeing the chamber, managed to survive.

Upon closer inspection, Donald discovered that the container for this radiation source was actually made ofsilver (in the context of a fictional or mythical material, often translated as “mysterious silver” or kept as “mysterious silver”). Although only a thin layer ofsilver (in the context of a fictional or mythical material, often translated as “mysterious silver” or kept as “mysterious silver”) covered the inside while the outside was made of ordinary wood, it was still extremely luxurious—even kings on the surface world wouldn’t have such treatment!

The high-energy substance on the outside was suspected to be a Divine Remains Crystal, containing divine power mixed with various chaotic energies. It could be absorbed, and its material could be used to create divine artifacts.

As Donald approached the source of this strange radiation energy, the Book of Truth provided another hint. This time, the news came as a great surprise to Donald. “It’s energy at the divine power level?” He had been struggling to find a source of divine power! Relying solely on the meager amount of faith energy converted into a few drops each month was far from enough to meet his growing demand.

By summoning the projection of the Book of Truth to absorb all the energy from the radiation source, the stone dimmed, turning into a dull, translucent, and turbid stone, losing its original crystal-like clarity. “What a great find! Just the energy alone provided 3,000 drops of divine power for the Book of Summoning—equivalent to what a low-tier deity would need at least a year to accumulate by converting faith energy.”

“Not bad! Even after losing energy, it can still be used as material to craft divine artifacts—what a great display of dedication, with no waste of one’s own resources! This is an advanced material from the outer realms that isn’t found in the main material world. The Book of Truth says it’s likely a divine skeleton crystal, probably part of a fallen divine being’s body, containing divine form and law powers. No wonder it can be used to make divine artifacts!”
After marveling for a while, Donald quickly stored the item safely in his storage space—this would be his reliance for obtaining a second divine artifact in the future!
After putting away the divine skeleton crystal, he scanned the other treasures in the secret chamber but didn’t take anything else before returning outside the treasury.
“Everyone, it’s safe in there now. Follow me in!”
At that moment, the young female knight Ely reopened her eyes, though they had returned to a light blue—clearly no longer under the control of a true god’s will.
Although serving as a vessel for a true god is a tremendous burden for mortals, if the true god acts excessively, its powerful divine force and will can cause irreversible damage to the mortal’s body and soul. In extreme cases, like the Spider Queen’s self-destruction, it completely erases the vessel from existence, leaving not even a trace of soul.
That’s why true gods usually choose the most compatible vessels, typically healthy and devout young believers.
Such believers who are chosen as vessels hold a special status in the true god’s church, often referred to as holy sons or daughters. Though not official titles, no one dares to mistreat them.
Moreover, being a vessel for a true god has its advantages. Like this young female knight Ely, after bearing the will and power of the Agricultural Goddess, her soul and body will integrate more easily with divine power. Nourished by it, she has a greater chance of developing divine bloodlines. Such believers, once they ascend to a divine realm, become candidates for divine messengers and holy spirits.
Thus, for believers, becoming a vessel for a true god is not only an ultimate honor but also brings practical benefits.
Curious, everyone followed Donald into the treasury hall. Upon seeing the survivors, the dark elf mage beside Carlisle suddenly exclaimed in surprise, “That’s Zachary, the first mage of the Banrey family. How did he end up like this?”

Donald understood that the radiation caused by the mixture of divine power and exotic energies could erode one from close range—let alone a first-class mage; even legendary warriors would find it hard to resist. These few were already lucky not to face such radiation directly, like that dark elf girl.

The dark elf mage on the ground twitched slightly when someone called his name, but made no other movement.

The others ignored these half-dead survivors and, upon entering the secret chamber and seeing its treasures, exclaimed in astonishment.

The three members of the Agricultural Goddess Church fared better; they recovered after a brief surprise and simply observed the treasures with admiration. After all, as devout church followers, they had much stronger resistance to material desires than ordinary people.

As for the members of the Blood Battle Mercenary Group, their reactions were rather poor—they stared greedily at the treasures, their eyes almost blinded by desire.

Only the Demon Sword Carlisle and the three with him managed to maintain a composed expression. Though the dwarf half-orc assassin couldn’t resist the temptation of gold and kept looking around aimlessly, it was just his nature, and he wasn’t as greedy as the others.

“Everyone, since the evil dark elf forces have been destroyed, as the victors of this battle, I propose we divide these treasures among us!” Donald suddenly said, surprising the three from the Agricultural Goddess Church and Carlisle. But the other ordinary mercenaries couldn’t hold back. Hearing this, they ignored everyone else and immediately rushed forward to stuff gold and jewels into their arms.

Seeing this, Carlisle’s expression turned angry.

“Cough! Abel!”

The half-orc assassin acted immediately, his two black daggers flashing as he left bloodstains on the bodies of the fastest-moving mercenaries in an instant.

The half-orc was highly skilled, targeting the most painful areas, and his wounds were shallow—far from fatal.

“Ah! Boss Carlisle, what’s the meaning of this?” Carlisle said darkly. “Since you still call me boss, you should follow the rules. If you touch something that isn’t yours, you’ll lose your life!”

The mercenaries glared at Carlisle in anger. Though their leader was no longer combat-effective, he was still guarded by three loyal subordinates. Although these mercenaries had their own plans, they were no match for them, so they swallowed their anger and put down the treasures obediently.

Only then did Carlisle say to Donald with an apologetic expression, “I’m sorry! My men have been in the Dark Lands for too long, and their bad habits are hard to change. Please don’t mind, Lord Baron—we don’t want any of this at all!”
At that moment, the priest Sord also interjected, “Our lord Eilien instructed that everything in Scorpion Tail City should be left to Lord Merlinna’s disposal. We will fully cooperate with Lord Baron!”
“Moreover, our lord asked Lord Baron to do a favor—she promised to arrange a safe residence and a legitimate identity for this Mr. Carlisle on the surface world. However, the Northlands are not part of our church’s jurisdiction, so there will be some inconvenience. Please help with this, and our church’s temple in Stone City will fully cooperate!”
Upon hearing this, Donald laughed and said, “What a difficult task! My territory is quite large, so even if you, Carlisle, set up another mercenary group, there’s room for it. I’ll take care of this—no need to trouble your church!”
He already admired Carlisle, this strong man, greatly. When the Goddess of Agriculture suggested arranging a place for him to live in the main world, Donald agreed right away.
And with another Golden Strength member around, it was as if the strength of his territory was indirectly enhanced.
Seeing Donald’s enthusiasm, and having a good impression of this young noble mage from the surface world after fighting side by side, Carlisle also smiled and said, “Then thank you, Lord Baron!”
“Why thank me? Aren’t we friends?”
With that, the two exchanged smiles. As for the three men with Carlisle, they were all satisfied with this arrangement.
The other mercenaries, however, looked hesitant upon hearing this. Unlike Carlisle and his group, they had spent half their lives in the underground world and weren’t inclined to go to the surface.
Carlisle naturally guessed what these men were thinking. In fact, aside from his three trusted men, the other mercenaries were merely enforcers with no real bond with them. In the Dark Lands, schemes and deceptions were the norm in daily life, while friendship and love were luxuries for creatures who found it hard to trust one another.
He then said, “I know you don’t want to come to the surface world with me. So starting today, the Blood Battle is disbanded. You may leave now!”
Hearing this, the mercenaries were initially delighted, but upon seeing the three Silver Strength members beside Carlisle with hostile expressions, and then looking at the treasures in the secret room, they realized they had lost any chance of getting a share. Reluctantly, they left the treasury.

“Carlisle, what are you doing?”
Seeing Donald’s confusion, Carlisle explained, “These guys are pretty much on par with those dark elves. In surface-world terms, they’re all evil creatures. If we let them go to the surface world, it would be like releasing wolves into a forest—sure to cause a lot of trouble. It’s better to deal with them here. After all, Scorpion Tail City has been destroyed, and there are no major underground forces in the vicinity. Whether they can live better depends on them!”