After chatting a bit more, Aetherion suddenly stepped in front of Ash and said casually, "Let me see your hand for a second."
"Huh? Did something go wrong with my body?" Ash asked, frowning in confusion but still offered his right hand without hesitation.
"No, nothing's wrong. I just need a drop of your blood essence for something important," Aetherion replied with a light chuckle before gently tapping Ash's index finger.
The moment he did, Ash felt a strange force being drawn out from deep within him, funneling toward the tip of his finger.
As soon as a single drop of blood essence escaped, Ash immediately breathed raggedly as if he had just run a marathon.
"What the fuck?! If this is what it feels like to lose a drop, won't I be completely screwed the next time I get wounded in a real fight?" Ash blurted out, alarmed at how drained he felt.
He followed up immediately, glaring at Aetherion. "And what do you even need it for?"
"There's no need to panic," Aetherion chuckled, clearly amused by Ash's reaction. "This kind of blood essence loss is different. You won't feel this way if you get injured in battle as it's a special kind of extraction."
"As for why I need it…" he paused with a smirk, then waved his hand dismissively. "You're still far too weak to comprehend certain things. Just leave it to me."
With that, Aetherion vanished into thin air without another word.
…
Reappearing once more in the vast, boundless void, Aetherion stood silently with his blindfold lowered around his neck.
His eyes shimmered faintly as he raised his hand with a casual motion, and in an instant, thousands of spatial rifts tore open all around him like cracks in reality itself.
With practiced precision, he split the single drop of blood essence into ten equal portions. Nine were carefully set aside, while one remained hovering in his palm.
Subsequently, Aetherion took out a bucket of water and dropped the blood into it. Within moments, the water turned a deep, vibrant crimson, as though it had been dyed entirely with blood.
Without delay, Aetherion divided the blood-infused water into thousands of fragments and sent each one into the swirling void through the spatial cracks he had created.
Sigh!
"I hope this could delay enough time for now." Aetherion sighed and mumbled to himself before wearing his blindfold again.
With a single step, Aetherion vanished from where he stood and reappeared inside the main hall again.
"Where did you go just now? What were you doing?" Ash raised an eyebrow, noticing Aetherion just reappeared in the main hall.
Aetherion simply shrugged with a smug grin, not offering a single word of explanation. His expression was so irritating that Ash couldn't help but want to punch him in the face.
Frustrated that his curiosity was being blatantly ignored, Ash decided to push it aside for now and focused instead on reviewing what he had received so far.
Other than the summoning chance that used to summon Li Jian, Ash obtained a Legendary Rank Secret Realm.
Ash was confused about what this Legendary Rank Secret Realm from the system was for.
However, when he asked Li Jian about it, Ash was confused because Li Jian said that he knew nothing about it.
Ash frowned and glanced at Aetherion again, confused.
'Wait... if Li Jian, who was summoned by the system like Aetherion, doesn't know anything, then how the hell does Aetherion know all this stuff?' His expression darkened with suspicion.
"What? Never seen someone as charismatic as me before?" Aetherion sneered when he noticed Ash's gaze.
"Hmmph! Charismatic, my ass." Ash snorted and asked in annoyance. "Tell me about what this Legendary Rank Secret Realm is all about."
"In general terms, a secret realm is a hidden, isolated, or pocket dimension that exists separately from the main world. It is usually created by powerful entities, strong factions, or even nature itself. These realms are sealed, difficult to access, and often open only under specific conditions or at rare intervals." Aetherion explained slowly.
He then continued while tapping his feet on the floor with a smile. "However, the secret realm from the system is different in a sense compared to the others."
"In a nutshell, the secret realm is tied to you. So, you can basically use it wherever and whenever you go. Naturally, there are other differences but you need to discover them yourself. Even I don't even know what special factor that makes it reach the 'Legendary' rank."
A few minutes later…
Ash, Aetherion, and Li Jian stepped out of a swirling portal, their figures emerging back into the real world simultaneously.
"So… time flows five times faster inside than outside?" Ash asked, raising an eyebrow as he glanced at Aetherion with curiosity.
"For now, yeah," Aetherion replied with a grin. "We haven't discovered the other effects yet."
"Eh, let's not overthink it. That alone is already pret—"
Before Ash could finish his sentence, Aetherion interrupted him.
"Oh, your little girlfriend is quite capable. She's brought some company along" Aetherion looked in the west direction.
"As expected of that bitch, she is indeed capable of using her mouth to her advantage." Ash chuckled and waved his hand casually.
"Let's get moving, it's time to eradicate a second-rate faction to establish ourselves and recruit geniuses."
As they made their way forward, Ash suddenly asked the system a question in his mind. "If I use all the points I currently have, what's the highest rank I can reach?"
"With the 10,150 silver points you have, you could reach Low-level Silver Rank." A mechanical, sweet voice answered.
"Alright then, upgrade my rank to the highest." Ash ordered.
[Ding! Do you want to upgrade your rank to Low-level Silver Rank? (Rank 3)]
"Yes!" Ash confirmed.