Reflections by the fire

"Have you finished absorbing the Origin Crystal?"

As Shen Heng walked forward, he turned his head slightly to ask.

"It's all absorbed. It was absorbed in the first two or three days, since I only got a small portion," said Lü Wenrui.

"How are you feeling?" Shen Heng asked.

"It's great, that feeling of Origin Power continuously flowing into my body," Lü Wenrui grinned, as if still savoring the sensation. "If I had enough Origin Crystal, I might be at the Sixth Tier by now."

Shen Heng glanced at the undisguised longing on Lü Wenrui's face and calmly stated,

"Given your current abilities, it would be a waste to give you that many Origin Crystal."

"Hehe, I was just saying!" Lü Wenrui laughed.

After saying that, he seemed to realize something, stopped in his tracks, and suddenly stared at Shen Heng with wide eyes, a look of surprise and uncertainty on his face.

"Shen Heng, you didn't run out of Origin Crystal Origin Crystal, so you're now trying to get me to lure the Calamity Beast here, did you?"

"..."

Shen Heng looked at Lü Wenrui speechlessly; he really hadn't thought of that.

"But you know my abilities, I can't control them," seeing that Shen Heng didn't immediately deny it, Lü Wenrui thought he had guessed correctly, and immediately frowned in distress, spreading his hands.

"If only we could control it."

"If we actually attract them, we might not be so short of Origin Crystal."

"I wonder if I'll be able to control it if my Ability Evolution to S-Class in the future?"

"Actually, it's not impossible if we can't control it, it just means we need to improve our luck..."

Shen Heng glanced at Lü Wenrui and interrupted, "No, that's not what I meant."

"Hmm, so what are you going to do?" Lü Wenrui looked at Shen Heng with some confusion.

Shen Heng did not reply, but instead turned his gaze forward.

During their conversation, the two arrived at their tent.

Shen Heng pulled back the curtain and went inside. Then he took a small aluminum box from beside his bed and handed it over.

"This..."

Lü Wenrui glanced down at the aluminum case, then looked up at Shen Heng, and finally looked down at the aluminum case again.

He recognized the aluminum box; it was the same box that Shen Heng had used to distribute the Origin Crystal Origin Crystal last time.

Now the other party has brought it out...

They haven't killed Calamity Beast in the past few days, so it's obvious they couldn't have been distributing Origin Crystal.

Moreover, even if Origin Crystal are allocated, they won't just target him.

But if it's not about allocating Origin Crystal, then what's the point?

Surely you can't just give him an empty box, can you?

With a hint of uncertainty, Lü Wenrui took the box and opened it.

Inside the box, 19 Origin Crystal were neatly arranged.

It includes 4 Tier 3 Origin Crystal, 9 Tier 2 Origin Crystal, and 5 Tier 1 Origin Crystal.

At this point, bringing this out makes the meaning quite clear, but...

Lü Wenrui's eyes widened slightly; he still couldn't quite believe it.

He really didn't expect that someone would give up these things. Even disregarding their intrinsic value, they were worth tens of millions of dollars!

"You..." Lü Wenrui looked up at Shen Heng, his voice suddenly trembling, "Aren't you going to use these Origin Crystal for cultivation?"

"These Origin Crystal are useful to me, but not very much. At most, they'll only slightly improve my strength. And that slight improvement isn't even enough to get me to the Mid Fourth Tier." Shen Heng looked at Lü Wenrui.

"In comparison, it will be much more useful to you. It might not be enough to help you break through to the Fourth Tier, but it should save you a considerable amount of time."

"This, this..."

Lü Wenrui suddenly felt his knees go weak.

He truly never imagined such a thing would happen to him. Had his ability activated?

No, I'm only at the Third Tier, it's unlikely that I could influence Shen Heng, who is at the Fourth Tier, to make him make such a decision.

So, this was his own decision...

Lü Wenrui looked at Shen Heng, he suddenly felt a song playing in his mind.

Time, please slow down, don't let her grow old anymore...

He began:

"Righteous..."

"Of course," Shen Heng said calmly, "This isn't a free gift; it's just a loan. You can pay me back with the Origin Crystal you earn after you break through to the Fourth Tier."

Lü Wenrui paused for a moment, then said, "Brother Heng, just let me know if you need anything in the future!"

Shen Heng gave Lü Wenrui a strange look, sensing that the other man's words had been filled with dramatic ups and downs.

He wasn't so generous as to give away so many Origin Crystal casually.

The reason he made this decision was, as he said, that absorbing these Origin Crystal would at most slightly increase his strength.

This little bit is really not of much use.

Conversely, allowing Lü Wenrui to break through to the Fourth Tier would have a significantly greater effect than absorbing it himself.

Although this might result in Lü Wenrui receiving more Origin Crystal later, while reducing the Origin Crystal they receive.

But at this stage, it's clearly not the time to consider this.

One more strong fighter is always welcome...

After exchanging a few more words with Lü Wenrui, Shen Heng turned and left.

He arrived at the outer perimeter of the camp, the area where he usually performed his duties.

Han Ling was already seated there, and the campfire had been lit.

Upon Shen Heng's arrival, Han Ling did not ask him what Shen Heng had been doing, but instead asked,

What were you thinking about while you were eating?

This question startled Shen Heng slightly. He pondered for a moment before recalling what he had been thinking just now.

"Hmm," Shen Heng nodded slightly, then sat down on the bench by the campfire.

He picked up the stick and held it towards the fire.

While he didn't discover anything else on the plateau, Shen Heng did find himself quite interested in making a fire.

Shen Heng poked around in the campfire with a wooden stick.

During this process, Han Ling did not urge them, but continued to wait on the side.

Shen Heng thought for a moment, then organized his thoughts and said,

"I was just thinking, what exactly are we doing here?"

"What exactly is it for?" Han Ling frowned slightly, looking at Shen Heng with a hint of doubt in her eyes.

Shen Heng glanced at the confusion on Han Ling's face and said:

"Of course, I'm not saying why we should stay here."

"I understand that we're staying here to stop the Calamity Beast and prevent Calamity Beast from spreading out of the Erosion Zone."

What I don't know is...

Shen Heng turned his gaze to the flickering orange-red flames.

"Are we truly capable of, or rather, better prepared to deal with the invasion of the Ruins Realm in this state...?"