Chapter 006: Natural Gems

“What’s your name?” Du Fan suddenly asked the soldier holding the divine essence in feces.
“My name is Bryant,” the soldier replied promptly upon hearing Du Fan’s question.
“Hmm, Bryant. As a reward for finding the energy crystal, I’ll give you ten more gold coins. All of you, come with me to collect your money.” After saying this, Du Fan headed toward the city lord’s mansion.
Hearing Du Fan’s words, the soldiers happily followed him to the mansion, with the soldier holding the divine essence even more overjoyed. The other soldiers glanced at him with envy.
“Sigh, why can’t I be more proactive?” the soldiers thought.
“If I hadn’t been afraid of getting dirty and had grabbed that thing right away, I would’ve gotten ten more gold coins!” some soldiers mused.
Who should this divine essence be given to? Du Fan pondered this in his mind. After some thought, he made up his mind.
Upon arriving at the city lord’s mansion, Du Fan ordered that the rewards for the nineteen soldiers be distributed, leaving only Bryant behind.
“Bryant, come with me,” Du Fan said to Bryant with a smile.
With the lord’s smiling face, Bryant eagerly followed Du Fan into the study. Du Fan had Bryant place the divine essence on the table in the study, then sent someone to take Bryant to collect the gold coins.
With Bryant’s grateful gaze, Du Fan ordered someone to call his elder brother.
“Elder brother, this is for you,” Du Fan said to George with a smile after he arrived.
A special energy naturally flowed within the divine essence, making it obvious that it was a valuable item. Upon seeing it and hearing that it was for him, George immediately picked it up and examined it closely, even sniffing it several times.
“Third brother, your crystal is really strange. I’ve never seen such a peculiar crystal before,” George said in surprise, holding the divine essence.
“Elder brother, place it in your palm, try to surround it with your combat energy, and imagine it merging into your mind,” Du Fan said with a smile.
“Can this thing absorb energy?” George asked in astonishment.
“That’s right. It can absorb energy. Go ahead and try it!” Du Fan replied with a smile.

After much thought, Du Fan realized that it was best for his elder brother to absorb this divine essence. With three divine essences—his father, elder brother, and second elder brother—each could have one. As for the rest, only Nai Xiu and Chen Chen deserved divine essences from Du Fan. Nai Xiu had already absorbed one, and as for Chen Chen, according to what those people said, she had been sealed away for hundreds of years; perhaps a divine essence was unnecessary for her.

Of course, Du Fan had other plans regarding giving the three divine essences to his father and the two second elder brothers.

On this continent, if one couldn’t reach the Saint rank, ordinary people usually only lived for about a hundred years. In this regard, Du Fan also had his own motives.

Hearing Du Fan’s urging, George gathered the divine essence between his palms and followed his instructions. Indeed, George felt the divine essence quickly transform into streams of clear energy that flowed through his hands into his mind, where it gradually formed a crystal that was crystal clear!

The crystal spun continuously in George’s mind, and with each rotation, he felt his energy surge violently.

For experts at the Saint rank or above, like Nai Xiu, Moses, and Basha, a divine essence provided a modest but stable boost in power.

However, for a skilled warrior like George at level seven, absorbing a divine essence had an enormous effect!

Less than five minutes after the divine essence began spinning in George’s mind, he let out a satisfied cry.

“Elder brother, how do you feel?” Hearing George’s extremely pleased voice, Du Fan quickly asked.

“Third brother, what exactly is that thing you gave me? Why, in such a short time, can I already feel that I’ve reached level eight!” George said, reclining comfortably in his chair.

Originally, given George’s current condition, it would likely take at least two to three months to reach level eight—two to three months being the best estimate. But after absorbing the divine essence, he reached level eight in just five minutes.

“Elder brother, I’m telling you—don’t tell anyone else,” Du Fan said hurriedly upon hearing his brother’s question.

“Of course, something like this must be an incredibly precious treasure. I definitely won’t tell anyone else,” George agreed, understanding the implication.
“The item I just merged with you can be considered a treasure of the elves—it’s called the Natural Stone. The Natural Stone can help people rapidly absorb energy from the world around them, thus quickly advancing their cultivation level. Big brother, don’t you feel that in your mind there’s something that resembles the Natural Stone? It keeps spinning nonstop, and with each rotation, your energy increases by a bit?” Du Fan asked.
Du Fan was very clear about what happened after absorbing this divine essence, so what he described was exactly what George was experiencing.
Hearing Du Fan’s words, George nodded repeatedly.
“That’s right, big brother. The Natural Stone is the most precious treasure of the elves. Because of this, aside from the core elders of the elves, no one on this continent knows about it yet. If not for Nayixiu becoming my fiancée, I wouldn’t have even known such a treasure existed on this continent!” Du Fan pretended to be deeply moved.
“Third brother, if you give me something like this, what will you do?” George asked, feeling embarrassed after hearing Du Fan’s words.
“Big brother, don’t you see that my cultivation level has increased a lot?” Du Fan asked with a smile.
George naturally couldn’t see Du Fan’s current cultivation level. But he had a clear feeling that he was definitely no match for Du Fan.
“Yes, third brother. I feel your cultivation level has improved a lot since I last saw you. Is it also because of this Natural Stone?” George wasn’t stupid. Hearing Du Fan’s words, he quickly understood.
“That’s right, big brother. A treasure like the Natural Stone can only be absorbed once in a person’s lifetime. I’ve already absorbed one, so even if I try to absorb more Natural Stones, it’s useless,” Du Fan said with a smile.
“Then what level has your cultivation reached now?” George asked eagerly.
“If I tell you, big brother, please don’t be surprised!” Du Fan quickly spoke seriously upon hearing George’s question.
“Don’t tell me you’ve already reached the Saint level?” Seeing Du Fan’s serious tone, George quickly voiced his guess.

“I’m already an expert in this field now,” Du Fan said, making a gesture to silence George.
“Right!” Hearing Du Fan’s words, George immediately stood up. Seeing Du Fan’s gesture, he forced down whatever he wanted to say next.
“Yes, big brother. If nothing goes wrong, your cultivation level should reach the Saint stage soon,” Du Fan said with a smile.
“Third brother, are you serious or not?” Hearing this, George was utterly confused. Indeed, the Saint stage was the dream of every warrior on the continent. George also dreamed of becoming a Saint-level expert one day. But he knew it wasn’t easy to achieve that—decades of cultivation might be required, or even a lifetime of effort might not be enough to reach that level.
Yet, hearing Du Fan’s words, it seemed he could reach his dream realm in the near future. Such a sudden opportunity left George stunned.
“Look at me. You just haven’t seen me for a few months, right? I’ve already reached this level through cultivation. So believe it—you’ll soon reach the Saint stage too,” Du Fan said with a smile.
“Ah, third brother, you’re too kind to me. I don’t even know how to thank you!” George was deeply moved by Du Fan’s words.
Hearing this, Du Fan continued, “Big brother, remember one thing: as long as the crystal in your mind isn’t completely melted, its help in your cultivation won’t stop. So you must work hard, do everything in your power to refine that divine essence in your mind as soon as possible!” Du Fan instructed him earnestly.
“I’ll definitely do my best and try every means to refine that crystal,” George promised, slapping his chest.
Heh. Du Fan smiled inwardly. Big brother, I just want you to become a god soon. Even if you fully refine that divine essence, it will just become part of you! How could it possibly be fully refined?
“Good, big brother. I believe you’ll definitely refine that crystal soon,” Du Fan replied promptly.

“By the way, third brother, when are you returning to the capital to see Father and Mother? They said they miss you very much.” George suddenly remembered something and hurriedly spoke to Du Fan.
“Hmm, once I’ve finished my matters here, I’ll set off for the capital to visit Father and Mother,” said Du Fan.
“What plans do you have for the future, third brother? I’ve received a message from Father. He wants me to return to the Northern Army as soon as possible, as leading 20,000 troops from the Northern Army might arouse the Emperor’s suspicion,” George said seriously.
Hearing George’s words, Du Fan pondered for a moment. “Elder brother, when do you plan to leave?”
“I think I’ll set off tomorrow or the day after,” George replied after some thought.
“Hmm, since you’re heading to the north, you’ll surely pass through the capital. I have two natural gems here; please give them to Father and second brother for me. I don’t think I can return for now; it will be at least a month before I can go back,” Du Fan said, suddenly taking out two divine gems and handing them to George.
Of course, Du Fan originally wanted to deliver them himself, as that would be much safer. But then he thought that with 20,000 troops from the Northern Army and being within the territory of the Gavin Empire, it was unlikely any force would dare to attack George!