"How are you feeling now?" Aetherion asked with a light chuckle, appearing before Ash in a blink.
"Ohhh, strangely refreshed," Ash replied, stretching his limbs with a satisfied grin.
He glanced around thoughtfully and added, "I can faintly sense the void and the flow of time, but it's kind of weird."
"That's perfectly natural. Your body has been completely reconstructed—reborn with limitless potential. I can't even predict how far you'll rise in the future." Aetherion responded with a smile, sizing Ash from top to bottom with a pleased nod.
Just as Ash was about to speak, he heard system notifications and instinctively checked them immediately.
[Ding! You have successfully completed the mission (Sudden Crisis)]
[Ding! Calculating the rewards….]
[Ding! Because the mission was completed by an external factor and you didn't contribute anything at all, you will receive the lowest rewards…]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1x Peak-level Special Summon Chance]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining 1x Lottery Chance]
When Ash looked at the first notification, he was confused because he didn't even know that he had received such a mission.
But then, he was suddenly overjoyed when he saw the last two notifications and couldn't be bothered anymore with the reason. Instead, he was worried that the system had mistakenly given him these rewards.
"Open the 1x Peak-level Special Summon Chance and the 1x Lottery Chance." Ash ordered the system immediately, as he was afraid that the system might take them back.
"What kind of strong person will I summon this time? They should be stronger than Aetherion, right? Since the summon chance's level is even higher than before." Ash muttered softly with excitement.
At the side, Aetherion rolled his eyes at Ash's remarks and snapped his fingers. The moment he snapped his fingers, the destroyed main hall instantly began being rebuilt in reverse as if time had just gone backwards.
Aeth then waved his hand as he removed the barrier in the surroundings.
[Ding! Congratulations! You have summoned Half-Saint (Rank 13), Li Jian, The Blind Sword Saint]
[Ding! Congratulations to the host for obtaining Legendary Rank Secret Realm]
Right after Aetherion removed the barrier, a spatial crack around 2 meters big appeared near the door.
Not even a second later, a swordsman in his early 20s with flowing white hair and a blindfold covering his eyes emerged before the portal vanished into thin air.
He wore a traditional robe with loose sleeves and held a sword over his shoulder.
When Ash looked at the swordsman, he was speechless, as he had never expected to summon someone with a blindfold again.
"What the fuck? Are all of the summoned characters blind or what?" Ash mumbled to himself and shook his head helplessly.
"My Lord!" Li Jian instantly kneeled on his knee the moment he saw Ash, who was looking at him with a weird expression.
When Ash looked at Li Jian's attitude, he frowned and thought about something before looking at Aetherion and Li Jian back-to-back suspiciously.
'Why is their attitude different?' Ash raised an eyebrow, feeling weird that Li Jian treated him like this when Aetherion, who was weaker than him, treated him casually.
"You don't need to be so formal with me from now on." Ash chuckled as he waved his hand dismissively.
"Yes, My Lord." Li Jian bowed his head respectfully before standing up.
Subsequently, Ash checked Li Jian's information as he was curious about how special he was, considering that he summoned him using the special summon chance.
— — —
[Name: Li Jian]
[Age: 22]
[Race: Human]
[Attribute: Sacred-level Light Element]
[Rank: Half-Saint]
[Bloodline: – ]
[Physique: The Eyes of Celestial Clarity]
[Items: Radiant Severance Sword (Saint Rank)]
[Skills: Heaven's Ninefold Judgement, etc.]
[Passive Skills: …]
— — —
When Ash checked the information, he was extremely pleased because, from the looks of it, Li Jian's combat abilities seemed to be higher than those of the same rank as Aetherion's.
"Li Jian, can you teach me some swordsmanship?" Ash asked in excitement, thinking that Li Jian should be willing to teach him since he seemed to be respectful towards him, unlike Aetherion.
He had asked Aetherion if he knew about swordsmanship, and Aetherion simply said that he understood it but only to some extent and rarely used it since his greatest strength was not in the way of the sword.
When Ash heard that, he naturally became excited and asked Aetherion to teach him about swordsmanship, but Aetherion refused him directly because he found it bothersome to do so.
Ash had always been craving to learn swordsmanship ever since he read too many novels and comics with the main characters using the sword, as he thought that they looked cool.
"My Lord, I fear my swordsmanship isn't refined enough to be worthy of teaching you," Li Jian said with a sheepish smile, scratching the back of his head in embarrassment.
When Aetherion looked at the disappointed expression on Ash's face, he chuckled lightly. "Don't underestimate him. For someone of his realm, Li Jian is already among the finest swordsmen."
"Really?" Ash raised his eyebrows in surprise, then asked Li Jian. "Would you teach me, then? I don't need anything fancy, just something to help me look cool—Cough, I mean, to understand the basics. I'm totally clueless right now."
Li Jian let out a soft laugh and nodded. "If that's what you wish, My Lord. I'll share everything I know. But I must warn you, I can't say for sure whether the path I walk is the right one. I'd hate to lead you down a dead end."
"Don't overthink it," Aetherion interjected with a calm shake of his head. "At this stage, he just needs a starting point. You're more than qualified to guide him for now."
…