Chapter 013: From Now On, They Are All His Soldiers

“I’ve luckily entered the God’s Barrier a few times before—places sealed off to foreign races. During those attempts, I almost lost my life several times. But I survived. And I even gained strength there.”
The others had a rough idea now, but they weren’t sure. They wondered if there was something sealed in this swamp after all. Right, he had mentioned earlier that something seemed to be sealed there.
“It’s because of those life-or-death experiences and the benefits I gained in the God’s Barrier that I’ve managed to reach such strength. Otherwise, given my current age, how could I have become a top-tier Level 9 warrior?” Du Fan said half seriously, half jokingly. His improvement in strength was indeed related to those adventures, but most of it was thanks to Miss Chenchen.
However, there was no need to tell them that. And what he said about something being sealed here wasn’t a lie either.
“I came here this time for two reasons: one is for poison, and the other is to see if that legend is true. As you know, reaching the peak of Level 9 and breaking through to that level isn’t easy.”
That level was the Saint Class!!
Although almost everyone knew they wouldn’t reach the Saint Class, everyone still fantasized about it. The people here all strived to improve their strength. Why? To become stronger! Strong enough to reach the Saint Class!!
And the bait Du Fan dropped was far too tempting.
The Saint Class! A shortcut to possibly reaching it! Though the chances were slim, it was still much better than their arduous training! Like Du Fan right before them!
Du Fan’s half-true, half-false words indeed sounded plausible, leaving them unable to disbelieve him. They stared at him, their eyes glowing green—filled with deep desire! A desire for strength!
“Don’t rush. I’m not done yet. If I told you everything so easily, you surely wouldn’t believe me, right? Actually, the first time I improved my strength this way, I already felt like I couldn’t hold that much strength. It was like a cup—only so much water could fit in; any more and it would spill over.”
Du Fan deliberately paused. “And the second time, I got even less.”
The first time, he obtained the essence of the gods, but the second time, he only got a little bit of angelic power. By the Light God, he wasn’t lying.

“So, this time I thought, I’ll just see—if I can’t improve my strength to the Saint level through these methods, then I’ll let my subordinates try. But their strength is too weak. Even if they received divine blessings, they wouldn’t improve quickly.”
The others exchanged glances, unsure why Du Fan suddenly mentioned this.
“As for me, I need some experts. Anyway, I plan to reveal my identity to you all after we go out, but I might as well tell you now…” Du Fan opened his mouth to speak, but Walwei became anxious. If Du Fan really had such a good method, their family was willing to provide a group of experts—even half and half would be fine!
What was Du Fan’s strength originally? When he wasn’t yet famous, he was only well-known within the noble circles. If the Green family suddenly produced a worthless person, almost every noble in the capital would know about it. But those outside that circle weren’t as aware.
But now it was different. Du Fan had become a household name, and his past affairs had long been known. Hearing him speak like this, Walwei naturally guessed that Du Fan had been useless before the age of sixteen! He couldn’t master either martial arts or magic! But now? Level 9! And it was a peak that many people couldn’t reach! A person who had already attained Saint-level strength! Without some extraordinary luck, Du Fan surely wouldn’t have achieved such strength!
So Walwei wanted to buy Du Fan’s secret, even if it meant giving it to their most loyal people or their young master. He wasn’t greedy—just a few Level 8 experts would suffice.
Walwei’s actions deeply stimulated those people. They also understood Du Fan’s intention—he needed experts, and they were exactly that! But their own family had no experts!
Du Fan smiled inwardly. How hadn’t he thought of this earlier? But he needed to offer them some benefits; otherwise, they wouldn’t truly submit to him. It wasn’t difficult—just provide some of the medicines Miss Chenchen had made for him before. It would only cost a few gold coins.
Du Fan had already made up his mind, so he stopped thinking about it. He also didn’t have time to ponder further. After hearing Du Fan speak like this and seeing Walwei’s flushed, anxious face, which wasn’t fake, they believed Du Fan even more.
“If I gain strength, I’m willing to serve you for ten years!”
“I’m willing to serve for fifteen years!”
…

Du Fan signaled for everyone to be quiet. “Don’t rush. I didn’t say it would work for everyone. There were others who went on adventures with me before, but not all of them gained power. So…”
“As long as you tell us the secret, if that place isn’t beneficial for your improvement, give it to us. We’re willing to serve you for three years.”
Three years—Du Fan was already satisfied with this figure. After all, he hadn’t given anything in return yet and would get three years of loyalty from others. But Du Fan, who wanted to maximize his benefits, though satisfied, wouldn’t reveal his thoughts. He pondered for a moment.
The others thought Du Fan wasn’t satisfied and said that as long as his method worked, they were willing to extend the period; even if it didn’t work, they’d still serve him for three years.
However, they weren’t willing to add more time. Three years was enough—just give him three years, and he’d have many skilled people at his disposal.
“Alright, I’m willing to trust you. You should also believe that following me, Du Fan Green, won’t let you down!”
Du Fan Green?
Duke Du Fan?
Except for Walwei, everyone else looked at Du Fan in surprise. They never expected him to be that duke! Truly as young as the legends said. After hearing Du Fan’s identity, they glanced at Walwei. He showed no surprise at all, and the strength Du Fan had demonstrated earlier didn’t seem like a lie. Most importantly, there was deep disappointment in Walwei’s eyes.
Du Fan naturally noticed this. He wouldn’t give up either the fish or the bear paws!
“Mr. Walwei, you don’t need to be disappointed. As I said, this method won’t work for everyone, but it’s a good way to increase strength, and it’s somewhat similar to your usual training methods. It’s like when you go on adventures to push your body to its limits, only you take your own safety into account. My former ‘useless’ companion, on the other hand, entered extremely dangerous places without considering that issue. Do you understand?”
The others suddenly understood. Du Fan continued, “I still have a friendship with your Beba family. As you know, I, Du Fan, am a person who values relationships. No one around me will suffer losses. You should be able to see this from our deal.”
Walwei quickly nodded. Du Fan indeed hadn’t let them down—they just had to take certain risks. But without risk, there’s no reward! He understood that very well.

Du Fan turned to the others, “It’s the same for you all. I, Du Fan, will definitely not treat you unfairly. You can rest assured on that.”
Following a duke meant having status, and moreover, following a duke who wasn’t arrogant, life ahead shouldn’t be too difficult.
Suddenly, Du Fan had sixteen experts by his side, plus the friendship from the Beba family—one could say he reaped a great deal from this.
Du Fan said, “There is danger ahead, but there’s an old saying in the East: high risk brings high rewards. So no matter how dangerous the path ahead, we should move forward. If we stop, we’ll regress.”
The others thought to themselves that this made sense. Perhaps Du Fan hadn’t feared before because he lacked strength and prospects, so it was better to risk everything. But now that he had strength and status, why would he still do that? Of course, it was to further enhance his strength! If he wasn’t afraid of dying here, what was there for them to fear?
With a smile, Du Fan looked at the people whose eyes grew increasingly determined. These people would soon be his soldiers! He hid his excitement.
He continued, “Let’s talk about how swamps form. Earlier, I mentioned that swamps were created by gods. In ancient times, there was a creature called a ‘Demon.’ There are hardly any records of ‘Demons’ on the Roland Continent. I only saw information about them in the archives of the Church. A ‘Demon’ is a creature with a sheep’s head, a human upper body, and a horse’s lower body. They possess magic and are part of the demon race.”
As Du Fan spoke, the others showed little interest, almost yawning in boredom.
“Alright, let’s head to Snake Valley. That’s our real goal. Facing unknown dangers, we just need to be careful. I believe there’s no difficulty we can’t overcome! Let’s go.”
The others agreed and headed deeper into the swamp. Yet everyone was cautious, afraid of encountering those situations again—at least they wanted to be able to control the situation. But these weren’t Du Fan’s concerns. All he cared about was how much he could gain this time.
Du Fan and the others moved forward again. Although Du Fan wanted to be at the front, the others took turns leading to “protect” him, showing their loyalty.
After leaving Qia Qia’s territory, they never saw her again, but the others didn’t dare relax. First, because they were now deep in the swamp, and second, because of the unknown dangers. As Du Fan said, such situations likely wouldn’t only occur with Qia Qia, so they became even more careful.

Du Fan and the others walked carefully the whole way, constantly collecting poisons. When Du Fan said he intended to deal with those bandits, although a few of them wanted to back out, the thought of facing Du Fan, who was at the peak of level nine, along with the Green family’s pursuit, made such consequences unacceptable to them. Moreover, Du Fan’s indifferent expression, as if the whole world was in his hands, filled them with a sense of awe. Du Fan, however, was unaware that, influenced by that mysterious old man last time, he had unconsciously started to adopt the old man’s demeanor. Although no pressure emanated from him, the occasional display of that demeanor only added to his mystery. “My lord duke, ahead is Bik’s territory.” Now everyone knew that Du Fan’s knowledge of the swamps came from books. While admiring his vast knowledge, they also had to admit that this had its drawbacks—there was a huge difference between knowledge from books and what one learns through life and death! So though they said nothing, they were still a bit worried that Du Fan might make reckless decisions. Fortunately, Du Fan was aware of his shortcomings and mostly followed others’ advice, only occasionally sharing his own opinions, which always turned out to be very helpful. This made them like him even more for not giving arbitrary orders. “There’s no need to call me ‘my lord duke.’ Just call me by my name or ‘Young Master Du Fan’.” It was unclear how many times Du Fan had emphasized this already. Then he looked ahead, searching his mind for information about Bik, “Bik? The Demon Fox Bik?”