Chapter 199
Just then, Jonathan spotted a sh of a shadow behind one of the cars.
Out of curiosity, he called out, “Wait.”
The others stopped and looked at him. “What''s wrong?”
Instead of answering them, Jonathan walked over to the figure hiding behind the car. As he drew
closer, he realized it was a little girl. She was a Smender.
The girl peered up at him with apprehension in her eyes. She seemed to be hiding behind the car so
that she could warm herself up with the heated air from the exhaust pipe. Jonathan stared at the girl for
a moment before pulling out five hundred worth of banknotes from his wallet. He crouched down and
gently shoved the money into the little girl''s hands.
Stunned, she looked at the money in disbelief. She had never seen so much money before in her life.
Jonathan smiled and patted her on the head. “Take care.”
With that, he got up, turned around, and rejoined the others who were waiting for him.
He was not going to treat the girl any less kindly just because she was a Smender, just like the man
who had offended him earlier that day.
After all, it would be presumptuous to think that the imprudence of one Smender applied to all the
other Smenders. In this case, one bad apple would not spoil the whole barrel.
It was unfair and discriminatory to look down on a nationality or race simply because of one person''s
behavior.
Returning to their respective hotel rooms, Jonathan and the others showered and prepared for bed.
As long as Jonathan was not in the Divine Realm''s headquarters, no one, not even Jeremy, Lucio, or
Edward, would be able to kill him.
Assured of his safety, he slept rather soundly that night.
As for his ns for the future, he decided that he would deal with them after he woke up.
At around ten in the morning the next day, he was woken up by a call from Lesley.
“Are you awake yet?” Lesley asked.
Clearing his mind by shaking his head, Jonathan said, “Not yet. I''ll be up soon.”
Lesley chuckled. “I''m not surprised. You have a beautiful missus to warm your bed after all,” he teased.
Jonathan brushed off the joke with a half-heartedugh. If I were to tell them that things between me
and Catherine are pure, they might specte that I am impotent or something.
“Well, up you get, then!” Lesley urged. “Simon had sent Elijah to get breakfast. We are having
breakfast in Simon''s roomter to discuss how to deal with that sly bast*rd Lucio.”
Jonathan rubbed his nose. “You never swear, Lesley. Since when have you started calling Lucio a sly
bast*rd? What in the world have you learned from Elijah and Simon?”
“What can I say?” Lesley chortled. “Their crassness rubs off on me.”
The two men shared augh before they both hung up.
Jonathan went to wake Catherine.
Thetter hummed. Then, she sat up obediently.
While her attitude toward Jonathan had warmed, she was still very much disinterested in having either
romantic or sexual rtionships. Jonathan respected her boundaries. He cared about her enough that
he made it a point not to force her into anything she did not want to do.
He was fine as long as Catherine wasfortable with the way things were.
Twenty minutester, the two of them showed up in Simon''s hotel room.
Both Elijah and Lesley were already there.
The former had bought a lot of food. There were sandwiches, donuts, creamy corn soup, milk, to name
a few.
They were nothingpared to the spaghetti bolognese, pasta, and bagels they had at home.
Though the tastes were a bitcking, Jonathan and the rest were not picky as long as the food was
edible.
The group talked as they ate. Simon said, “I''ve studied the rules of the mission board. Let''s say Simon
and I take on a mission together. If Simon obtains the item stipted in the mission and hands it to the
Divine Realm, then he will be seen as the sole person to havepleted the mission. I won''t be part of
it. However, if we fail the mission, then both Simon and I will be sealed off.”
Lesley nodded in understanding. “I guess that makes sense. They probably do that to deter
freeloaders.”
Simon continued, “There''s another thing. After a mission is taken by someone, the others have an hour
to join forces with them. When the hour is up, the mission is considered locked.”
Jonathan and the others listened attentively. “I noticed that the Divine Realm has a very strict system
when ites to rules and operations,” Lesleymented. “I suppose it''s a good thing that they have
this rule to lock the mission after an hour. It could be quite chaotic to form teams otherwise.”
“I''vee up with a solution earlier,” Simon said. “All of us can help Jonathan toplete missions so
that he can advance to the Silver ranking. Once he does, we won''t need to worry about Lucio
anymore.” He paused to let the others take in his words. “Then again, I fear this won''t be feasible. All
five of us together may be able to put up a fight against Lucio, but there''s a chance that he''ll look for
helpers to tip the bnce. Lucio is from Oswald''s faction, after all. Those from that faction don''t really
see eye to eye with us.”
Jonathan rubbed his nose, looking somewhat glum. “There''s just no good way to resolve this, at least
for the time being.”
“There''s actually another solution,” Simon said. “Jonathan, you can advance your cultivation to
Celestial Soul. The system will automatically upgrade your ranking to Silver.”
“I can''t advance my cultivation so quickly,” Jonathan said ruefully. “Simon, even you have yet to reach
Celestial Soul. I have an even longer way to go. It''s not something I can do overnight.”
“We still have Spirit Gathering Pills, haven''t we?” Simon paused for a second to organize his thoughts.
“We each have four pills, that makes twenty in total. Allow me to redistribute. Catherine and I are
currently at the peak of Nascent Soul. We''re just a step away from advancing to Celestial Soul. So, the
two of us will keep our pills. Lesley, you''re also at a critical juncture, so you can keep two pills.
Jonathan is in the most danger, so we all have to do our best to help him. Elijah, that''s why I''m asking
you to give him all four of your pills. With four pills from you, two from Lesley, and four that are originally
his, Jonathan will have ten in total.”
“I''m fine with that,” Lesley said at once.
Elijah stiffened for a moment, but he soon replied, “Fine by me too.”
Simon nodded and turned to him. “Thanks, Elijah. We''re in a perilous situation. Once we''ve made our
respective advancements in cultivation, we''ll lend you our strength to help you advance. I hope you''ll
understand and not me us.”
Elijah gave a toothy grin of assurance. “Don''t worry, Simon. I''m all right. It''s my pleasure to be able to
help Jonathan.”
N?velDrama.Org holds ? this.
Jonathan, however, felt apologetic. “No, I can''t take all of Elijah''s pills and leave him with none. That''s
not fair.”
“It''s the best way. You don''t have to be burdened by this,” Simon told him. Then, he addressed
everyone else, “As for how to deal with Lucio, let''s talk about thatter. I say we shouldn''t take on any
missions until we''vee up with a solution, lest we be targeted by Lucio when we''re not ready.”
“Understood,” everyone replied.
With the breakfast meetinging to an end, Simon wasted no time in splitting the Spirit Gathering
Pills.
Jonathan felt bad about the fact that he alone had ten pills, which was half of the group''s stash. At the
same time, however, he was also ted that his sworn siblings were willing to go out of their way to
help him.
Everyone returned to their own rooms after that.
The first thing Jonathan did once he got back in his room was call Elijah.
“Can youe to my room for a bit?” he asked.
Having guessed what Jonathan was trying to do, Elijah smiled and said, “All right, Jonathan, I know
what you''re up to. Don''t worry about it, okay? I honestly want you to have my pills. I trust Simon. He
must have his reasons for making such an arrangement.”
Still, Jonathan hesitated. “But...”
Elijah put on a stern expression. “Come on, Jonathan. I''m going to be mad if you insist on acting like
we aren''t sworn brothers. I''ll talk to youter, okay?”
With that, he hung up.
Catherine, who was also back in the suite with Jonathan, took out four Spirit Gathering Pills from her
box and held them up in front of him. “Here, you can have mine too.”
Jonathan''s eyes widened. Touched, he swept Catherine up in a hug. “Don''t be silly,” he told her.
“Simon''s right. You are at a crucial point. Keep your pills, okay?”
Catherine shook her head, looking at him with a serious expression. “I''ll be fine.”
“Lucio will being after you if he can''t do anything to me. It''ll be better that you advance your
cultivation to Celestial Soul as soon as possible,” Jonathan reasoned.
Seeing how adamant he was, Catherine did not insist. She was rather reserved to begin with.
Deciding to put the pills to good use, Jonathan sat cross-legged on the couch before popping two Spirit
Gathering Pills down his throat.
The pills dissolved rapidly in his body, sending the cells into overdrive as they absorb the essence
contained within the pills.
Ten minutester, the pills were fully absorbed. However, Jonathan could feel his body still hungering
for more.
It reminded him of the Supreme Nascent Pill he had previously consumed. The pill had an abundance
of essence, so much so that his body could not even absorb all of it.
It feels like the Spirit Gathering Pill doesn''t have that much essence. Does it mean that the Spirit
Gathering Pill is inferior to the Supreme Nascent Pill?
A secondter, enlightenment dawned on him.
No! It''s because my cultivation was still at Neutralizing Force when I consumed the Supreme Nascent
Pill. I''m now at Nascent Soul, so my cells have been enhanced as well.
Coming to this realization, Jonathan took the other eight pills in one go.
The cells in his body worked in a frenzy to absorb the enormous amount of essence. Jonathan was
finally beginning to feel less empty.
In fact, he felt more refreshed than he had in days. He quickly worked to control his spirit that was
ring up as he concentrated on merging his spiritual imprint with his body.
He was, without a doubt, transforming vigor into spirit, a process that would enhance his cultivation.
At this moment, his vigor and spirit became one, merging with his Destino Art.
His blood sang as his vitality was further enhanced.
Jonathan sat still with his eyes closed. He could feel the transformation taking ce in his body.
As those eyes opened a whileter, a powerful light gleamed from within.
He had sessfully transformed vigor into spirit. To his own surprise, he had in fact advanced to the
final stage of Nascent Soul.
He could exert a force equivalent to two thousand kilograms.
When he eventually familiarized himself with the power of Haemocore, he would be able to use that
power as well. By then, a punch of his fist would pack as much as three thousand kilograms of force,
equivalent to an expert in the middle stage of Celestial Soul.
Jonathan was overjoyed. He was once again amazed by the power of elixir pills. I think I know why
disciples from major families and ns are able to advance their cultivation so quickly. With the help of
elixir pills, it would be easy for the disciples to make speedy progress. However, as theycked solid
foundation andbat skills, those disciples would be flushed out of the race rather quickly.
It only took Jonathan two months to advance his cultivation from the initial stage of Nascent Soul to the
final stage.
The speed of his advancement was so fast that it was almost unimaginable to the average person.