Upon returning to Sunny Condo in Divine Realm, the fellow sworn brothers finally met officially.
Simon was still the same, looking indifferent and restrained.
However, Jonathan called out to him in a sincere tone, “Simon.” A faint smile appeared on Simon's face, and he tapped Jonathan on the shoulder. Afterward, he said, “Master Richard has summoned us. Let's go over and meet him.” Everyone was feeling excited, so they agreed to go over there together. Naturally, Jonathan followed along as well.
In reality, Jonathan felt a slight confusion and sadness in his heart when walking out of the condominium.
He was puzzled as to where Yuna and Lailah had gone off, while his sense of sadness came from the possibility of Lailah having left silently and that it was unknown when he could see her again.
However, all of his thoughts could only be buried in his heart.
When they met Richard, everything remained the same as it was before.
After Simon and the rest greeted him, Richard rewarded «each of them with a Trio Vitality Pill.
With that, everyone left and returned to Sunny Condo.
Overwhelmed with excitement, they could not wait to see what was inside the brocade boxes.
However, Jonathan did not seem to look forward to it.
Inside the living room, everyone sat down on the couch of the condominium separately. Elijah was the first to open the box, and he asked in confusion, “What kind of elixir pill is this?” Jonathan glanced at it and was certain that it was the Trio Vitality Pill. He then explained, “This is a Trio Vitality Pill, which is an Immortal Pill. Bring it to your room and consume it. It will be very beneficial to your cultivation.” Elijah was immediately overjoyed.
Lesley and Simon were shocked as well. The former said, “I
didn't expect Master Richard to make such a grand gesture.
This Immortal Pill is good stuff!” Simon glanced at Jonathan before saying, “We can receive such good stuff all because Jonathan fought for them with his life.” At that, Lesley chuckled and remarked, “You're right.
Jonathan, | really have to thank you for this time.” With a faint smile, Jonathan responded, “We're brothers, remember? There's no need to thank me.” Suddenly, Simon said to Elijah, “Elijah, your current cultivation level is the lowest among us. | think it's a bit wasteful if you take this Immortal Pill. How about this? We'll give you more of the Spirit Gathering Pills we obtained from the missions this time, and you give this Immortal Pill to Jonathan.” Shocked, Jonathan hurriedly uttered, “No way. You don't have to do that. | don't need it.” Elijah was stunned as well. He then responded, “Shouldn't Jonathan also have a Trio Vitality Pill himself? Besides, he
completed a dual-level mission, so he's supposed to have at least one Ninth Immortality Pill. That's a Precious Pill!” One could tell that he was a little bit discontented.
Simon looked over at Jonathan and asked, “Oh, right.
Where are your elixir pills?” The latter replied bluntly, “I consumed the Trio Vitality Pill.
As for the two Ninth Immortality Pills, | gave one to a friend who needed to enter the Divine Master level. | was going to give her only one, but she was just one step away, so | gave her both.” Simon nodded. He did not doubt his words at all.
Jonathan did not say that he originally wanted to give one to Simon, as it might come across as a little bit insincere, seeing that he no longer had any with him.
Simon said to Elijah once again, “You've heard it. Neither am | forbidding you to consume the Trio Vitality Pill nor am | biased. It's just that you currently don't need the Immortal Pill as much as Jonathan does. He's only one step away from reaching the Celestial Soul level. | treat all of you as
my own brothers and sisters.” Upon hearing that, Elijah murmured, “All right, then. I'll let you have my Trio Vitality Pill, Jonathan!” Jonathan would not want it, so he said, “Simon, | know that whatever you do is for our own good.
However, | was the one who gave my Ninth Immortality Pill to someone as a favor. It's unreasonable for me to come here and take my brother's now.” He paused for a moment, then looked over at Elijah and said, “Elijah, you've already helped me a lot. | don't need you to make sacrifices for me anymore.” All of a sudden, Elijah felt a little embarrassed. It was then he recalled it was all thanks to Jonathan's kindness in the past that he could still be alive. Jonathan is a man of integrity. | wouldn't be here without him. And yet, | only think about myself...
“I'm sorry, Jonathan.” He blushed crimson as he continued, “Simon was right. I'm a selfish man, and so | thought of you the same as well. It would be quite a waste for me to take
the Trio Vitality Pill now, but you're the one who needs it the most currently. You must take it if you still see me as your brother.” Without hesitation, Jonathan rejected him. “I told you that | don't need it.” Rising to his feet, he took Catherine's hand and said, “Catherine, let's go back to our room.” Naturally, she listened to him, so she stood up obediently.
‘With that, both of them soon returned to their room.
Simon and the other three people were the only ones left in the living room.
Elijah was frozen in place, not knowing what to say for a moment.
Simon glanced at him and got up to return to his room without saying anything as well.
After he left, Elijah looked at Lesley and asked miserably, “Lesley, did | really do something wrong?” Lesley sighed and said, “Elijah, Simon treats everyone
equally. Each of his decision was made in consideration of our team. He doesn't have to please anyone, and he truly treats us as his own brothers. That's why he arranged it in this way. Before this, we did the mission for Catherine together. What do you think that was for? That was to get rid of Jonathan's worries. If you encounter any difficulties in the future, | believe Simon will also help you no matter what it takes.” In that instant, Elijah felt extremely ashamed. “I seem to have offended both Simon and Jonathan now. What should I do?” “Go and apologize to Simon. Brothers don't hold grudges against one another. As for Jonathan, I'm sure he won't be angry at you,” Lesley replied.
Elijah nodded solemnly before hurriedly going to look for Simon.
Standing in front of Simon's bedroom, he knocked on the door.
Simon was sitting cross-legged on the couch. He knew it
was Elijah at the door.
“Come in,” said Simon.
Elijah pushed the door open and entered the room.
Simon looked at him and asked, “What is it?” With his head lowered, Elijah said, “Simon, | was wrong.” Simon responded, “All right. | got it. No more next time.” Instantly, Elijah breathed a sigh of relief and said joyfully, “I'm going to give this Trio Vitality Pill to Jonathan. If he refuses to take it, I'll throw it away.” A smile touched Simon's lips, which was a rare sight.
“Elijah, you're currently in middle-stage Nascent Soul, so it's not suitable for you to rely too much on elixir pills. | give you my word that I'll get everyone to help you when you truly need elixir pills.” Elijah responded with a heavy nod. “Simon, I'll leave you alone if there's nothing else.” “Go on!” said Simon.
In Jonathan's bedroom, Catherine handed her husband the
brocade box with the Trio Vitality Pill kept inside and said, “Here you go!” Jonathan could not help but smile bitterly. “It's so hard to obtain Immortal Pills, yet you're all so eager to give them to me. How strange it is!” He paused briefly before continuing, “Catherine, you're also at the final stage of Nascent Soul, and you can enter the next stage once you consume this Trio Vitality Pill. So, don't give it to me.” Catherine's eyes were like an expanse of limpid water in autumn, shining with clarity. “I still have three more years to go. I'm not in a hurry. But you're different. You need to become stronger to protect me.” Jonathan was slightly taken aback by her words.
He wavered for a moment but still rejected her. “I've already taken a Trio Vitality Pill, and my cultivation level has improved a lot with the help of elixir pills. If | rely on elixir pills again, I'm afraid it's not worth the candle. However, you, on the other hand, need it the most. So, listen to me and consume the pill yourself, okay?”
Follow on NovᴇlEnglish.nᴇtCatherine put the brocade box away and said, “I'll keep it for you, then.” “You...” Jonathan was nonplussed.
Just then, there was a knock on the door.
“It's Elijah.” Jonathan recognized the footsteps, so he went up to open the door.
As soon as Elijah saw Jonathan, he smiled sheepishly and said, “Jonathan, please do me a favor. Be merciful to me and take this elixir pill.” Dumbfounded, Jonathan could only laugh. “It's the first time I've heard such a shameless request.” Elijah chuckled and said, “Simon has said that | can't rely too much on elixir pills now as | don't have much self- control compared to you.” “Then keep it for yourself for later and consume the Spirit Gathering Pill first.” “Jonathan, we can always earn elixir pills together again. I'll give it to you first now. Anyway, if you don't want it, just
throw it into the toilet.” After Elijah finished his words, he shoved the brocade box into Jonathan's hand and ran away at lightning speed.
Jonathan was rendered speechless.
He did not like to keep going back and forth because of the elixir pill, as he felt it was uncool.
In the end, he took a deep breath and accepted the Trio Vitality Pill.
Despite that, he still did not plan to consume it. Instead, he decided to keep it for Elijah and give it to him when the latter needed it.
Meanwhile, Jonathan also felt that he had relied overly on elixir pills to transcend from the middle stage of Nascent Soul to the final stage. He had to look for some inspiration and revelation on his own.
Catherine then took the snow fox captured by Simon and the others to complete the mission.
Jonathan accompanied her.
After the mission was completed, they ran into Yuna on their return to Sunny Condo.
“Ms. Yuna!” Jonathan greeted, grinning from ear to ear.
‘Yuna was also about to enter the condominium. When she saw him, she giggled and said, “Jonathan, it's so good to see you here.” She then looked at Catherine and immediately praised, “You're so beautiful!” However, Catherine remained unfazed and did not give any response.
Yuna felt a little awkward all of a sudden.
Jonathan chuckled and said, “Ms. Yuna, this is my wife, Catherine Harrington. This is how her personality is. | hope you won't take it personally.” It dawned on Yuna, and she said, “Woah, how lucky you are to be blessed with such a beautiful wife.” “Let's talk inside.” As Jonathan entered the condominium, he added, “We're going to have some Spaunian beef stew tonight at Chanaentown. Do you want to join us?”
‘Yuna was tempted but was reluctant to agree to it right away. “Wouldn't | be intruding on you all?” Jonathan laughed and replied, “Of course not. Please come. They are all bachelors. With a gorgeous woman like you joining us, they'll surely be on cloud nine.” ‘Yuna smiled cheekily and said, “All right, then. It's settled.” Jonathan uttered a word of affirmation and was ready to return to his bedroom with Catherine.
Just then, Yuna suddenly said, “By the way, Jonathan.
There's something | want to talk to you about alone. Do you have a moment?” Jonathan's heart skipped a beat. He knew it must be related to Lailah. Facing Catherine, he said, “Catherine, could you return to our room first?” His wife nodded, then turned around and left.
“What's the matter?” Jonathan asked Yuna.
After ensuring that Catherine was out of sight, Yuna said softly, “Lailah had already left.” Jonathan was not surprised by it. Yet, he still could not help but feel melancholic when he heard the words coming out of the woman's mouth.
“Did she say anything before she left?” he asked.
‘Yuna replied, “She said that it's better that you two forget each other!” That caused him to stiffen.
His reaction prompted her to glance at him and ask nosily, “What exactly is your relationship with Lailah?” “Nothing,” Jonathan answered placidly before heading back to his bedroom.
Later that evening, he treated everyone to dinner at Chanaentown.
Everyone drove there separately, behaving like a bunch of carefree and youthful people.
Due to her adorable and easy-going personality, Yuna was very popular among the group, especially with Elijah, who was very attentive to her throughout the meal.
However, she preferred to spend time with Lesley. With his warm and mature personality, he indeed had an irresistible charm that captivated women.
In fact, Jonathan was the most interesting one, for he exuded a hint of playfulness while wearing a roguish smile.
Such a man was usually difficult for women to resist.
Nevertheless, since he was a married man, he behaved with propriety in front of everyone.
The group only headed back to Divine Realm at eleven at night.
Even though they had to pay their respects to Divine Emperor the next morning, Jonathan and the others were not intending to avoid it.
Anyway, that was something they had to do twelve times a year. As such, there was no harm in them doing it more
when they could.
From the following day onward, everyone would go their ‘separate ways, carrying out missions to earn elixir pills.
Unlike ordinary folks who had to earn money to support their families, Jonathan and the others had to collect elixir pills by completing missions in order to progress to the next cultivation level.
Jonathan and Catherine had returned to Yaleview ahead of the group since she did not intend to carry out missions.
His wife was not an ambitious person, and he always went along with whatever she wanted.
Moreover, Catherine did not consume the Trio Vitality Pill as she wanted to save it for Jonathan. There was nothing he could do about that.
Simon was also leaving the group because he needed to carry out a mission in Xenhall.
Meanwhile, Elijah had to make a trip back home, and Lesley wanted to take up a mission in Gregan and travel
around the region at the same time.
As such, it was time for the sworn brothers to bid each other farewell again.
Simon had not taken the Trio Vitality Pill yet. It was likely that he wanted to wait for the right time. When inspiration hit him, he would consume the pill and use it to break out of his limitations in one go.
At three in the afternoon, Jonathan and Catherine touched down at Yaleview International Airport.
Dustin had arrived at the airport to pick them up.
“lI won't be going back. | have to carry out a mission,” Jonathan said to them.
“Okay!” Catherine replied with a nod.
Although she was reluctant to separate from Jonathan, her reaction was still tepid. Nevertheless, the unemotional woman would support every decision made by her husband.
“Mr. Lawson, why don't you have a meal at home before
you go? It's not that urgent, right?” Dustin suggested.
Jonathan smiled faintly before replying, “There will be plenty of chances for us to eat together in the future. Dustin, please take care of Catherine for me. See you later!” With that, the man waved them goodbye and turned around to stride off.
Dustin had no choice but to drive Catherine home.
Jonathan soon left Yaleview International Airport. Instead of visiting Mabel or Amber, he headed to the train station.
As of then, he was not worried that anyone from Divine Realm would interfere with his missions.
Although Jeremy's cultivation was of Celestial Soul level, Jonathan was no longer afraid of him.
Gabriel was also unlikely to attack Jonathan anymore after knowing that the latter was the Chosen One.
By the time Jonathan reached the train station, it was four o'clock, and he bought a high-speed train ticket to
Wildefield, which was due to set off in two hours.
As there was some time left, he went to a nearby restaurant with good reviews and had a large plate of pasta.
Afterward, he sat on the square in front of the train station.
Soon, the sun began to set, giving a warm orange tinge to the sky, while the evening breeze caressed the faces of passersby.
Jonathan, who was fashionably dressed in a black leather jacket and jeans, people-watched while waiting for his train.
He found it extremely interesting to observe the different people passing through the square.
Everyone seemed to have their own story.
Besides, those who had the most exciting stories were often found at Yaleview's train station, which was always bustling with people.
Some of them came to Yaleview to realize their dreams. It was easy to tell through their faces since they seemed lost yet hopeful as they disembarked the train.
Some were leaving the place and were filled with melancholy and other complicated feelings.
There were also some exhilarated locals who were going on vacations elsewhere.
As for Jonathan, the purpose of his visit to Wildefield was to complete a mission.
Wildefield was a northern province of Chanaea. It had one of the most well-developed economies. Willowbank, which was located in Wildefield, was a tier-one city.
The wealthiest businessman in the city was named Victor ‘Yarbrough, and it was rumored that the man was in possession of a magical prismatic crystal. The word was that a goddess used it to patch the holes in the sky in order to save humanity shortly after the beginning of the universe. Thus, the prismatic crystal was extremely precious.
Jonathan's mission was to retrieve the prismatic crystal for Divine Realm.
The reward for getting the crystal back was an Immortal Pill.
It was a commensurate reward, given the mission's high level of difficulty.
Despite the fact that Jonathan, Elijah, and Catherine had offered to let each other have the Immortal Pill as if it was ‘something worthless, in reality, most cultivators would Kill just to get their hands on one.
As much as Jonathan longed to have Immortal Pills, he could not bring himself to go against his conscience and take Elijah's. There was also no way he would let Catherine sacrifice her Immortal Pill.
He would be thoroughly disappointed with himself as a man if he did so.
Moreover, Jonathan knew that once he broke through the final stage of Nascent Soul and achieved the level of Celestial Soul, his thirst for elixir pills would surge rapidly.
The same went for Simon.
That was why he had to start gathering elixir pills. It was
such that he would have enough when he needed them.
As for obtaining the prismatic crystal, he could not do it by force.
Divine Realm's bottom line was that they would never use force to achieve their goals.
The reason the government had been willing to support Divine Realm was that the organization did not pose any threat to the government.
For the current mission, it would be a deal that Victor had struck with Divine Realm using the prismatic crystal.
Follow on Novᴇl-Onlinᴇ.cᴏmVictor had a daughter named Briana Yarbrough. The twenty-three-year-old woman had fallen in love with a young man named Sean Watson, who was a very formidable fighter.
However, Victor was not fond of Sean and wanted his daughter to break up with that young man. To his displeasure, Briana was not unwilling to comply.
Besides, Sean was extremely domineering.
any crimes. Moreover, there was something else that he found out. It turned out that Sean had a complicated background.
Apparently, Sean had the support of the military and was possibly the son of a big shot in the army.
He was definitely not someone Victor would dare to murder.
Perhaps some might wonder why Victor was not keen to have Sean as his son-in-law, given the latter's superior background and martial arts skills.
That was because Victor was the wealthiest man in Willowbank. He had a net worth of more than six billion in Anglandurn currency, which was, without a doubt, a huge sum of money. Someone who had the ability to earn that much was definitely not a fool.
Victor was a good judge of character, and it was obvious to him that Sean was a scheming man after his money.
If his daughter ended up marrying Sean, he might even end up having nothing left to his name, given the younger man's background.
While Victor was caught in a dilemma, he suddenly remembered the prismatic crystal that he had.
As such, he used it to strike a deal with Divine Realm. He: wanted the organization to send someone to make Briana break up with Sean and ensure that the latter would never pester his daughter again. In exchange, he would give up the prismatic crystal to Divine Realm.
In conclusion, Jonathan's mission was to break up a couple.
As long as he managed to separate Briana and Sean and ensure that the latter stayed away from her permanently, his mission would be complete.
It seemed like an easy task.
For a mission at that level of difficulty, the reward was usually four Spirit Gathering Pills, and one Immortal Pill was much more valuable than four of those pills.
If that were the case, there had to be a special reason that Divine Realm classified it as a higher-level mission.
It was because of two factors. Firstly, Sean was a very sly
man who had put up a perfect pretense in front of Briana.
Secondly, his background was indeed not simple. Due to that, Divine Realm was not able to kill him. Doing that would cause great trouble, which was not something the organization wanted to deal with. As a result, an additional condition, which stated that the killing of Sean was not allowed, was added to the mission.
Initially, it was just a normal mission. However, after two experts from Divine Realm failed in that mission and were both sealed off, Divine Realm realized it was not as easy as it seemed and thus increased the difficulty level.
Jonathan had dared to take up the mission because he was very confident in his flirtation techniques.
Besides, he could rely on Arthur's and Mabel's help to tackle the issue of Sean's background.
Jonathan had no fear of anyone with an influential background.
Based on those two reasons, the mission was just like a
free lunch for him, and the Immortal Pill was practically given to him on a silver platter.
As such, the man accepted the mission without hesitation as he did not want anyone to get ahead of him.
Jonathan was given two months to complete the mission.
At six in the afternoon, he boarded the high-speed train, which sped away punctually.
Jonathan had purchased a sleeper ticket.
There were two bunk beds in his compartment, which was meant to be shared by four people.
However, it was February, the peak season for people going back to Yaleview, and Jonathan was heading in the opposite direction. Hence, he was the only person in his compartment.
He lay down comfortably on the bottom bunk of the bed on the left side of the compartment.
The lights were dim.
There was barely any noise as the high-speed train
operated.
After a while, the man got bored and started playing games on his phone.
He accepted that mission when he was in Lostaria.
It had already been a few hours since then, yet no one else joined him.
Therefore, he could carry out the mission without any worries.
Some might be curious as to why he had to accept the mission before carrying it out. After all, he was taking a considerable risk, one which he would not have to bear if he had done it the other way around.
In his mission to retrieve Sinai Bible, Jonathan had accepted the mission before carrying it out to obtain the clue of a keyword.
However, for the current mission, it was clearly stated in the rules that the mission had to be accepted
first before one could execute it. Otherwise, no reward would be given.
On the one hand, Divine Realm wanted to give out missions. On the other hand, the organization intended to instill a sense of crisis in its members to keep them on their feet.