Chapter 163 - Crystal Origin
Recruiting foreign Awakeners was a soft approach, but Leon did not make the suggestion because he was afraid of erupting into direct confrontation with these foreign Awakeners that would inevitably come to their Capital. The suggestion was made in consideration of humanity's dwindling population.
If they could benefit from reducing the killing of their own kind to a bare minimum, it would be for the best. But if the foreign Awakeners don't know what's good for them, Leon did not mind washing the Capital in the blood of his enemies alongside his mother. The Crawford royal families weren't pushovers.
"Speaking of the crystals, I wonder if you have any idea about the its origins or how it came into being, mother?" Leon suddenly asked.
Leon thought his mother might have a clue since the royal family record and hold many secrets since the founding of the kingdom. However, even if Elizabeth learnt all the Crawford royal family's secrets, it would only concern the 500-year history of their kingdom. The crystals were buried not far from the ancient ruins beneath their palace, thus it mostly like belonged to the ancient civilization that existed for a longer time and ended god knew how long ago.
Elizabeth shook her head at Leon's question. She fished out a diamond-shaped grey crystal and glanced at it thoughtfully. "These crystals are too unfathomable. Mother can't guess its origins. It's mostly likely another product of the ancient civilization, but that's not important. What's important is that it can be use by us and benefit our cultivation greatly."
His mother's answer caused Leon to smile wryly. If they could learn its origins, they might be able to find some clues in its manufacturing process. But that was under the assumption that the crystals were man-made and not naturally formed by the heaven and earth.
It was foolish to believe that such heavenly resources were inexhaustible if his mother's guess was true. There must be a fixed amount to be found in the underground world and once it is exhausted, there would be no more, not unless they found the manufacturing method of the crystals.
Leon wasn't shortsighted and began looking from a long-term perspective immediately. However, that was under the assumption that the crystals were artificial made according to his mother's guess. His own speculation regarding the crystal's origins was quite different.
"Don't you think the crystals share some resemblance to an Awakener's elemental seed, mother?"
"Hmm?" Leon's question piqued her interest. "Yes, mother thought about this before, but it was just a passing thought. My son, you don't think these crystals are the elemental seed of an Awakener, right? After all, once an Awakener dies or the elemental seed's connection is severed, it will dissipate and return to the heaven and earth."
Leon was aware of this fact. He was probably the most experienced in this topic because no one else had been able to devour the elemental seeds of other Awakeners other than him. His divine sense had given him a natural advantage, no one else in the mortal world could replicate.
However, he was unable to stop the dissipation process once the extraction of the elemental seed commenced. He was only able to reduce the loss to a bare minimum by becoming adept in absorbing the elemental seed.
The action of reaping the cultivation of others was considered evil, but he had never devoured the cultivation of an innocent person. All those he did, deserved death. He was neither good nor evil. A good person wouldn't be able to live long, but neither would an evil person have a good ending. His sense of justice was to return kindness with kindness and fight evil with evil.
"Yes, that is certainly the case for the elemental seed of a cultivator in the elementary Awakener Realm, but what about the Transcendent Realm, or realms beyond that?"
Elizabeth was startled once these words were spoken. Although she had not kept an exact count, the amount of crystals that entered the safety of the Treasury should have already exceeded a hundred, and this was just a week's worth of mining. There should be still be thousands of crystals to be excravated form the mines or maybe even tens of thousands. In any case, the number was not small.
"Going by your speculation, son, that would imply that there had been at least thousands of Transcendent Realm experts in the past." Elizabeth said with a startled expression. The reason being, she was partially convinced. After reaching the Transcendent Realm, she could feel that her Metalseed was much sturdier than in the past. But of course, she wasn't daring enough to sever her connection to her Metalseed and put that to the test.
If her cultivation was lost, it would be very difficult to retrain to the same heights in the same attribute again. Losing one's Awakening cultivation was like losing what little acknowledgement they had from the world. If they couldn't keep it, why would the world continue to acknowledge them? They would lose their qualifications.
"Yes mother, I'm inclined to believe as such." Leon replied. He believed his mother's easy breakthrough to the Transcendent Realm was due to the comprehension of a past Transcendent Realm expert contained in the grey crystal his mother absorbed.
"If our assumption is correct, it would be a shocking discovery. It would imply that Awakeners weren't birthed after the Cataclysm but existed long before it." Leon added. "Also, the location of the crystal mine isn't far away from the Ancient Ruins. Perhaps, the mine had been the location of an ancient battlefield in the past. As for why we hadn't uncovered any corpses so far, I think this is normal. It would be strange if anything is left behind after so many years. That place had been a spider nest previously. Anything that remained would have probably been eaten by them."
"En, that would indeed be a shocking revelation." Elizabeth nodded. What her son said made sense, but she wasn't fully convinced by her son's speculation. "But there is one flaw to your speculation. While the essence contained in these crystals is plenty, it is far from what you can expect in the elemental seed of a Transcendent Realm expert."
When Leon heard this, he smiled. "You have forgotten already, mother. We were just discussing about this. Since the elemental seed of an Awakener Realm dissipates, the elemental seed of a Transcendent Realm would also dissipate, albeit at an incredibly slow rate by the looks of it."
Hearing her son's reminder, Elizabeth smacked her own head in realization. "Ai, dear me. Look how forgetful I am already. I must be getting old."
"You are not getting old at all, mother. In fact, you seem to be getting younger." Leon was not trying to flatter his mother. He really thought so. After reaching the Transcendent Realm, Elizabeth's lifespan had been extending by more than double, making her appearance revert to her prime. Since even Crazy Don could become younger after reaching Transcendence, they shouldn't find this strange.
"Ai, mother doesn't need your flowery words." Elizabeth said, but she still smiled.
"Let's not dawdle on this topic. Looking at your present cultivation, you must have made some great gains. However…" Elizabeth shook her head with a devious smile and said, "It's not enough. My daughters-in-law have made great advancement in their cultivation with the crystal's aid during this time you were away. You should really pick out some crystals from the treasury and focus on your cultivation. You wouldn't want to be weaker than your lovers, right?"
"Am I so petty? It is a good thing if they had become strong. Even if the foreign Awakeners arrives, they would be able to look after themselves. My heart would rest easy even if they stroll the Capital." Leon was simply happy for his women and show zero signs of jealousy. Why would he be? He was destined to reach the Divine State and leave this world in the future. It would be great if his close ones could accompany him. However, now that his mother brought the matter up, he was a little curious. "By the way, what level of cultivation did they reach?"
Elizabeth grinned when she heard this. "Last, I checked; they have both reached the level of five-stars two days ago. Perhaps, they have already reached the level of seven-stars by now. Not only would they be able to take care of themselves, they might even have to take care of you. Wouldn't that damage your pride as a man?"
If the unconscious king heard this, he might keel over in bed and pass away from shock. His wife was already a Transcendent, but he was still a… 9th step Awakener! In the past, 9th step Awakeners was considered very strong in the kingdom, but perhaps when he wakes up, 9th step Awakeners would have already become as common as cabbages.
"As for your fiancée Rachel, I'm not sure. She had been holed up in the Lancaster's workshop, helping out her parents all this while. Take some time to check up on her." Elizabeth continued.
Leon's gawked at the news as his jaws dropped to the ground. He had anticipated that his women would make great progress when he heard they were using the crystals to cultivate, but he still underestimated their Divine Bodies.. Leon scratched his head and smiled wryly, "It seems I really need to put effort into my cultivation in order to catch up."