Chapter 293


    Jonathan froze as he slowly came to understand what she meant. Mabel is right! I clearly didn''t think


    things through. The act of prolonging one''s life goes against thews of nature, so the Great Tribtion


    might just be a form of punishment for Divine Realm. As such abilities can upset the bnce between


    life and death, their usage is forbidden by Heavenly Law. A country would have its luck ruined if its


    people practiced such alchemy.


    With that in mind, Jonathan immediately gave up on the idea.


    “Do you still want to continue creating an alchemy department?” Mabel asked when she saw him going


    into deep thought.


    “Of course I do!” Jonathan replied with absolute certainty.


    Mabel stared at him in confusion.


    “I''ll take everything you''ve said into consideration and figure out something else,” Jonathan added.


    “What will you do?” Mabel asked.


    “Like Divine Realm, I will find a well-developed city and set up my own base there. After that, I''ll focus


    on businesses that''ll make me lots of money. I''ll wait till I have acquired enough wealth and power


    before setting up an alchemy department,” Jonathan replied.


    “That''s a good n you''ve got there, but it''s going to take a very long time. You''ll need to work hard for


    at least ten to twenty years,” Mabel said after a brief pause.


    “Yeah, I know that.”


    “You said you''re going to build a base in a well-developed country. Does that mean you won''t be


    staying here?”


    Jonathan nodded. “That''s right. Things could get really messy if my business runs into conflicts of


    interest with the local government. After all, I can''t be using my extreme methods against my home


    country. In a foreign country, however, things would be extremely different. That is especially the case


    for well-developed countries. Those have a tendency to prioritize safety, stability, and peace, so they''re


    likely topromise as long as I don''t go overboard.”


    “Capital is another huge issue you need to take into consideration. I''ll try my best to help you scrounge


    up some money when the timees,” Mabel said.


    “Money is merely a tool to help aplish a goal. I''ll figure something out myself. You''re a civil


    servant, so I can''t expect much from that meager sry of yours. Can''t have you going corrupt for my


    sake now, can I?” Jonathan replied with a chuckle.


    Mabel rolled her eyes at him in response. She did have quite some money saved up, but it wasn''t


    enough to be of much help.


    Jonathan waved at her. “Anyway, we can leave this discussion forter. Right now, we need to focus on


    solving your problem.”


    The light in Mabel''s eyes dimmed slightly.


    Having recalled something, Jonathan asked, “Oh, by the way, you brought Joanne to see Chief Yount


    in Yaleview a while back, right? What''s going on with her?”


    “Chief Yount isn''t exactly sure about the details either. All he told me was that the being who


    reincarnated into Joanne''s body is something remarkable. It could be an ancient demonic being of


    some sort. It''s best if we just leave her alone and let nature take its course.”


    Jonathan gasped in shock. “An ancient demonic being?”


    “Given how this has been in existence for billions of years, it''s not surprising that such beings


    could be living among us. They have found their own ways to survive and coexist peacefully with us, so


    we should just leave them be,” Mabel exined.


    She then paused for a few seconds before adding, “Sometimes, it''s best to curb our curiosity to avoid


    being the cat that gets killed. There''s no telling what could happen if we mess around with the


    unknown.”


    Although Jonathan was still curious about Joanne''s condition, he knew better than to probe any further.


    “So, has Joanne returned to Willowbank?” he asked.


    “Yup!” Mabel replied.


    “I see,” Jonathan mumbled.


    Feeling a little tired, Mabely down to get some rest.


    Jonathan decided to leave her alone as he thought about the future. First things first, where do I start


    building my own empire? Hmm... Leyrudon sounds nice. Neogarus isn''t too bad either, but Anndur


    already has a Divine Realm of its own. I''m bound to run into trouble if I set up my organization there, so


    I should just forget about Neogarus. Let''s see... I could also consider Illurasia, Beshya, and Soblonaro.


    Those locations all sound like decent options on paper, but I will still need to conduct some fieldwork to


    gather more information. It is crucial that I choose arge and well-developed country for my


    organization. Small countries often suffer from political instability, and that could spell disaster for me. If


    the rebels manage to defeat the government troops, they might destroy my base after taking over the


    country. This is pretty much the same as investing in countries that are not stable. No one is going to


    give a crap about your business when a war breaks out.


    Meanwhile, in Lostaria, the sun was shining brightly at nine in the morning.


    Due to Lostaria being a coastal city, the weather was much warmer over there, and the sky was an


    exceptionally beautiful shade of blue.


    Yaleview, on the other hand, had extremely horrible weather most of the time.


    After exiting Lostaria International Airport, Jonathan gave Beatrix a call and arranged a meetup.


    This belongs ? N?velDra/ma.Org.


    He then hung up the phone and turned toward Mabel as he said, “Come on, let''s head over to Heritus


    Hotel. My master will be here soon.”


    Mabel nodded in response. She was actually feeling a little nervous about meeting a master from


    Divine Realm, but she did her best to hide it.


    Heritus Hotel wasn''t too far away, so it only took thirty minutes for the two of them to get there by taxi.


    After checking into a presidential suite at the hotel, all that was left for them to do was wait patiently.


    Richard arrived outside the hotel about an hourter.


    After receiving a call from Beatrix about their arrival, Jonathan and Mabel quickly went downstairs to


    greet them.


    The sun was shining brightly in the sky as Beatrix pulled up outside the hotel in a Chevrolet.


    Richard was dressed in a white tracksuit and looked like an elegant, middle-aged teacher.


    Beatrix had on a in-looking dress which gave her a dignified and demure appearance.


    “Master! Beatrix!” Jonathan and Mabel moved forward to greet them the moment they stepped out of


    the car.


    “Master Richard, Ms. Lachman, thank you both very much foring over today,” Mabel said


    respectfully.


    Richard shed her a faint smile. “No need to thank us, Ms. Sandler. Divine Realm has a very deep


    connection with the country, so it is only natural that we all help each other out.”


    Mabel nodded. “Much appreciated, Master Richard!”


    “Let''s talk inside, shall we?” Beatrix suggested.


    “Okay!” Jonathan and Mabel replied in unison.


    The four of them then made their way into the hotel.


    About five minutester, they were all seated in the presidential suite.


    Richard began assessing Mabel''s condition by pressing a finger against her Forehead Acupoint.


    As though he had established a direct connection with her brain, Richard was able to clearly see


    everything within Mabel''s mind.


    Had Richard reached Lance''s cultivation stage, he would''ve been able to ess Mabel''s mind from


    over a hundred meters away.


    Jonathan and Beatrix watched on eagerly as Richard continued to browse through Mabel''s mind.


    A few minutester, Richard pulled his finger away from Mabel''s forehead.


    “How is she, Master?” Jonathan asked worriedly.


    Mabel, too, was staring curiously at Richard.


    With a solemn expression on his face, Richard sat down and said, “It''s not looking good.”


    Jonathan''s heart sank when he heard that.


    Mabel''s expression turned gloomy as well.


    “Infant King''s primordial spirit may be severely wounded, but he''s still quite powerful. I won''t be able to


    get rid of him with ordinary mana levels. If I try to forcefully remove him by increasing the mana levels,


    Mabel''s Forehead Acupoint will be destroyed in the process, and that will result in her death,” Richard


    continued.


    “Is there nothing you can do about this, Master?” Jonathan asked anxiously.


    “Either Divine Emperor or Lance could get rid of Infant King with their mental strength alone. However,


    Lance is currently roaming the Void Domain, and Divine Emperor would never get himself involved in


    mortal affairs. Therefore, we can expect no assistance from either of them,” Richard replied.


    Beatrix kept quiet the whole time as she didn''t know what to say.


    Mabel, on the other hand, was a lot calmer than Jonathan. “Master Richard, what will happen if I am


    unable to get rid of Infant King?”


    “Infant King is currently in the process of healing himself. Once he develops a consciousness of his


    own, he will begin to absorb your spiritual energy. Eventually, your brain will wither, and you will die.


    Once you are dead, Infant King will break out of your body,” Richard exined.


    Mabel clenched her teeth as she said, “Master Richard, what Infant King is doing is reprehensible. If I


    am fated to die anyway, then please kill him with high levels of mana. You may go all out without having


    to worry about my safety.”


    “What are you doing, Mabel?” Jonathan eximed.


    “I would rather die along with Infant King than let him continue hurting others after killing me!” Mabel


    insisted.


    “We still have time to figure out a solution!” Jonathan protested.


    “Stop arguing, you two. There is another method that we can try,” Richard said.


    “What is it, Master? Hurry up and tell us!” Jonathan asked excitedly.


    “Homologizing and dissolving,” Richard replied.


    Everyone simply stared at him in confusion.


    “Please borate further on this method, Master Richard!” Mabel said.


    “It''s simple, really. You may think of Infant King as a drop of blood and your spiritual energy as water.


    Right now, that drop of blood is inside a huge body of water. Though you may have huge amounts of


    water, you are unable to dissolve that thick drop of blood. However, if you turn all of your water into


    equally thick blood, your spiritual energy will exceed that of Infant King''s, and you will be able to


    dissolve him and gain his powers,” Richard exined.


    That was when Jonathan finally understood what Richard meant.


    “But how will Mabel turn her water into blood?” he asked.


    “This whole water and blood thing is just an example to help you understand the concept better. Infant


    King possesses dark energy, whereas Mabel''s mana is pure spiritual energy. What she needs to do is


    turn her spiritual energy dark and get her body ustomed to it,” Richard replied.