"Of course." Ash shook his head with a helpless expression, already guessing what Li Jian was thinking.
Ash was poor as fuck because he knew that he had nothing on him from his memory. Not even his mother left him with anything besides a broken jade pendant that was attached to his necklace.
His mother had once been a powerful Awakener, even by Main Continent standards. But due to circumstances beyond his understanding, she had suffered grievous injuries and passed away two years ago—just a year after Ash had moved to the Mossvale Continent.
"Their valuables are stored in these rings, My Lord." Li Jian respectfully held out both hands, revealing three spatial rings resting in his palms.
Ash gave a nod of approval and took them without hesitation. "Thanks."
He immediately checked the contents, but his excitement faded as disappointment crept in. There wasn't much inside—just a handful of mid-level energy crystals and a modest stash of high-level ones.
To the current Vohn family, such a haul would be a fortune beyond imagination. But to Ash, whose mind carried glimpses of the oldest dynasties and their unimaginable wealth, this was barely worth a glance.
Subsequently, he took out a white token and contacted his uncle to come over.
"Aeth, do you think that our family could take care of Selen's family on their own while we go to the Heiyu Family?" Ash asked Aetherion, trusting Aetherion's judgment since he believed he wouldn't joke about this kind of thing.
"Don't worry, we've got it covered. Leave her family to us." Uncle Liam cut in, having overheard the question.
Sigh!
Ash breathed a sigh of relief, that was… until Aetherion gave a different answer.
"They can't," Aetherion said bluntly, casting a glance to the north with a faint smirk.
Then, with a wave of his hand, his demeanor shifted. "Now, they can."
"Huh? What do you mean?" Ash blinked in confusion.
"There was a low-level Diamond Rank in there, but he's dead now. So, they should be able to handle them unless there's an unforeseen situation later on." Aeth explained casually with a calm smile.
[Ding! Aetherion has killed a low-level Diamond Rank.]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1.000 silver points]
Uncle Liam knitted his eyebrows, mumbling softly as he thought about something. "Low-level Diamond Rank? Wasn't that old bastard already dead? Did he actually break through?"
"Yeah, looks like he did. They have hidden it quite well enough." Aetherion said with a sneer, nodding toward Liam in confirmation.
"No wonder they were acting so damn confident." Uncle Liam deepened his frown, then sighed in relief because they hadn't fallen out fully with them before.
"Well, since it's settled, let's head over to that bastard's home and claim it for ourselves," Ash said coldly, feeling the thin world energy in the surrounding. "This place is too damn barren anyway."
He then turned to Uncle Liam. "If anything comes up, just contact me—we'll return as fast as we can."
Ash raised his eyebrows when he realized something. He looked at Li Jian with a smile. "How about you stay here? Aetherion can handle those fools on his own. No need to go overboard for small fries like them."
Before Li Jian could reply, Aetherion interrupted.
"Nope. Not happening." Aetherion shook his head and said. "I won't lift a finger unless I absolutely have to. We're bringing him along—he'll do the killing, while I handle the traveling so we don't waste time hopping around."
Ash frowned at the response, then narrowed his eyes in thought. His tone turned serious as he spoke to Aetherion telepathically. "If you and Li Jian were to fight seriously… who would win?"
"Aren't you looking down on me too much?" Aetherion shook his head helplessly and explained. "The only way he could beat me is if the space is locked and I can't break through it. Even then, his chances would still be slim."
"Are you sure? Do you know that he has a special ability?" Ash looked surprised when he heard it, as Li Jian was two ranks higher than him.
Not only that, the difference between Half Saint (Rank 13) and Venerable Rank (Rank 12) was really massive.
"Obviously." Aetherion snorted, looking at Ash as if he were looking at an idiot. "Naturally I know what his capabilities are. In fact, he's going to become extremely strong if he were to use his special physique and go all out."
He paused for a second and continued. "To the point that his chance is going to be quite high in winning against me if the situation is in his favor. Of course, it's still unlikely to happen since I won't just stand stupidly for that to happen if we were to fight seriously."
"Alright, alright, if you say so." Ash rolled his eyes, then glanced at Aetherion with a sinister look. "But if something ever comes up that Li Jian can't deal with, we'll see if you can handle it with your big mouth."
Aetherion only smirked and shrugged his shoulders in response.
"Let's go!" Ash said as he walked towards the outside.
"Where the hell do you think you're going? Didn't I just say I'm in charge of traveling so we don't waste time wandering?" Aetherion sneered mockingly and waved his hand, creating a spatial crack in front of him.
"What?! You can open spatial cracks? Does that go straight to the Heiyu family?" Ash was surprised and opened his eyes widely.
He had assumed they'd just be teleporting short distances with Aetherion's help, not jumping straight across the kingdoms.
"Of course," Aetherion replied with a casual chuckle.
"Can you teach me how to do that?" Ash asked with excitement, thinking how cool he could be once he could open a spatial crack and could go everywhere he wanted.
Aetherion shook his head with a smile. "You're still way too weak, and your understanding of space is still too shallow."
He paused a second and continued when he saw the disappointment on Ash's face. "Don't worry. Once you're ready, I'll teach you. But don't try to sprint before you've learned to walk."
"Anyway, let's hurry. Keeping this damn thing open is annoying."