Stepping into the main hall, Ash looked around and felt satisfied that at least the main hall was now decent.
"Where's the treasury?" Ash asked Aetherion, who had already sat on the main seat casually and felt a little bit of discomfort as he moved his body around.
"Use the token from the middle-aged man's spatial ring, and you'll know it." Aetherion replied with a grin.
After taking out a black token, Ash inserted his energy into the token.
A door suddenly appeared a few meters away from Aetherion's right and slid open.
…
A moment later,
Ash and Li Jian came out of the treasury one after another.
"At least they're not poor in terms of overall wealth." Ash spoke in an indifferent tone before clicking his tongue in disappointment. "Tch, but there's all to it. Nothing particularly interesting there."
"Actually, there's one interesting item. It's from your ex's little boyfriend." Aetherion flipped his palm casually, and a white jade token appeared out of nowhere.
One of the sides showed a lotus above water as the symbol of Clear Spring Holy Land, while the other was written with the name 'Jianxue'—acting as the identity token.
"What's so interesting about it?" Ash raised an eyebrow, walking toward Aetherion slowly.
"There's a secret realm that's going to open probably in a day or two—at most in a week." Aetherion explained with a smile.
"Isn't that just an identity token? What's the correlation between these two?" Ash took the token from Aetheion's hand and inspected it carefully.
"Yes, it's only an identity token. However, that boy managed to get a spot. Since he's dead, we can claim his place for you."" Aetherion answered with a chuckle.
Ash knitted his eyebrows and asked seriously. "Won't that anger Clear Spring Holy Land? What if the other factions object?"
"What are you afraid of? Where's your courage when you said you wanted to kill your way to those top factions and kill their strongest people?" Aetherion sneered.
Ash rolled his eyes at the teasing and said seriously. "I mean, I know both of you are extremely strong, but if they were to join forces and go all out, there should be at least a few half-saints and there might be a saint or two, you know."
Before Aetherion could reply, Ash continued. "Even though I don't know much, at least I know some general things about the factions in this Mossvale Continent and the main continent, you know."
In his memories, his mom explained to him the general things that he should know before her death.
The top factions in the Mossvale Continent were actually only a subsidiary faction for some factions from the Main Continent. However, they were not without some strength since they had at least a half-saint or possibly even a saint-ranked powerhouse holding their fort.
This was the reason why Ash was afraid to offend the real 'top factions,' since he didn't want to be that hasty and make huge mistakes instead.
Even though Ash guessed that both Li Jian and Aetherion could handle some half-saints or even a saint or two without any problems, what if there were multiple of them attacking at once? Isn't that going to be seeking death?
Aetherion shook his head helplessly and sneered. "It seems that you really don't understand to what extent our strengths are."
He paused for a second, then tapped his fingers on the armchair in steady rhythm. "In simple terms, we can fight across several ranks. But it also depends on the difference. For example, the difference in strength between Venerable and half-saint is huge, as they were being separated by a big realm."
"And the difference between Half-Saint and full Saint is even greater. Because once you reach a saint rank, your physique and energy will transform to a higher level once. To a Saint, Half-Saints are like ants in their eyes."
"So, why don't you tell him in a simple way how powerful you are?" Aetherion glanced at Li Jian, who had been listening silently beside Ash.
"Yes, please. I need to know your capabilities so I can plan accordingly."" Ash raised an eyebrow as he tilted his head and looked at Li Jian curiously.
"Your words are my orders, My Lord. You don't need to ask for my permission in the future, just say the words." Li Jian shook his head with a smile, then explained in a simple way.
"My full strength at the moment is around two ranks higher than my current rank. However, I couldn't explain it in detail since the power system seems to be different with—"
Li Jian stopped his explanation the moment Aetherion snapped his fingers.
Ash didn't understand what had just happened but instantly looked at Li Jian again when Li Jian continued his explanation a few seconds later.
"Forgive me, My Lord. Let me explain it again in more detail now." Li Jian smiled apologetically and immediately continued. "My full strength without using my physique's ability is around Low to Mid-level Great Saint Rank. However, once I used my physique's ability, my strength increased greatly to the point that I might be able to kill across several ranks if I were to sacrifice my life in exchange for that."
Before Li Jian could continue, Aetherion interrupted.
"Don't rely on that too often. He'll suffer severe backlash if he exceeds his limit."
Ash nodded in understanding and asked again. "Alright. So, what's your peak strength if you avoid any harmful backlash?"
"I've only mastered the first strike of Heaven's Ninefold Judgment. With that alone, I can kill most Peak-level Great Saints, except those rare few who punch above their rank." Li Jian scratched his head apologetically.
"That's already more than enough." Ash said with a bright laugh, patting Li Jian on the shoulder.
After laughing heartily for a moment, he looked at Aetherion in excitement since he had always been bragging about just how strong he was. "What about you? What's your real strength?"
"You could say that in overall battle power, he's stronger than me. However, in terms of survival skill, I'm almost unkillable."
When he looked at Ash's disappointed expression, he instantly continued. "Let's say that as long as we're not being targeted by emperor rank, you don't need to be afraid of our safety since we could just escape from them."
"Tch, so in simple terms, your battle power is simply lower than Li Jian's." Ash clicked his tongue as he rolled his eyes.
"This little…" Aetherion gritted his teeth and retorted, "Remember that his rank is at the half saint while I'm still at the sovereign, okay?"
"Fair enough." Ash nodded his head, accepting the excuse.