"Where is the Winter Jade Empire?"
"Huh? We're inside it right now."
"That's not what I meant."
"Then?"
Shaking his head and not rephrasing his question because Lei Luli was obviously acting like she wasn't able to understand what he was speaking about, Jian Shen chose to ask about something else.
"Do you know what determines the location where someone ascends at?"
"You do know that I'm an Empress, right? Shouldn't you be treating me with more respect?"
What the hell!
'Is she trying to hide something from me?'
"No idea. Maybe she's just lonely and enjoying your company?"
"Really? I think she's trying to hide the truth and recruit you."
Regardless of which of the two swords were true, Jian Shen knew that he definitely needed to leave this palace and away from Lei Luli if he needed to find out the information he needed.
But before be did that, he wanted to ask her one last question and then decide on what to do.
"Do you have a map which can lead me to the Cui Clan?"
"Huh?"
Truly surprised at this question, Lei Luli stopped walking and looked weirdly towards Jian Shen.
"How do you know about the Cui Clan?"
"Someone from the Cui Clan invited me to come to their clan if I manage to successfully ascend."
Hearing those words, Lei Luli who understood that the boy was someone who received an invitation while he was still in the Mortal Realm figured out that he was much more talented and valuable than she originally guessed.
This could only mean that she needed to up her efforts to obtain Jian Shen.
"What's your name, handsome?"
"Jian Shen."
Immediately hugging Jian Shen's arm between her plentiful breasts, Lei Luli sultry asked, "Won't you become mine, Jian Shen?"
If this was some other time, maybe Jian Shen would've felt turned on or excited, but right now all he could feel was a chill down the back of his spine.
Understanding this, Lei Luli chose to change her tone but didn't move away.
"Do you know what the status of you ascenders is in the Divine Realm, Jian Shen?"
Shaking his head, Jian Shen didn't need to ask anything before Lei Luli continued her explanation.
"Unlike us who are born here, you all who have ascended from the Mortal Realm possess a total of three Dantians. This might just seem like one more than us, but that one Dantian plays a huge role in the difference between our levels of strength."
"Due to the fact that your lower Dantian has been particularly filled with Qi, you can focus on only cultivating Soul Essence in the middle Dantian."
"But for us, we need to cultivate both Qi and Soul Essence in the same middle Dantian which is the same as effectively making us half as strong as you."
"Also, due to possessing the Qi Crystal Core in your lower Dantian you ascenders recover Qi at a very fast rate as well."
"Lucky for us, however, those in the Mortal Realm aren't privy to the 12 Great Meridians linked to each of your Dantian which helps us natives of the Divine Realm not lose out too much."
"Here, placing your hand on this will show us how many Great Meridians have been opened. Let's hope that you've at least opened two of each."
Saying so, Lei Luli who pulled a palm-sized mirror out of thin air held it in front of Jian Shen.
Smirking on the inside, Jian Shen who already knew the answer daringly moved his hand forward and placed his palm on the mirror.
Lei Luli, on the other hand, was more anxious than Jian Shen because if he had too few Great Meridians opened it would definitely impact his speed of cultivation.
The next few moments the mirror began shining after which the image of a human body with a total of 36 dots appeared on his body. 12 of them were below his neck, 12 below that, and finally the last 12 were near his belly button.
And, all 36 of them were brightly shining.
"This.... How?!"
Clearly enjoying the reaction of Lei Luli, Jian Shen didn't say anything but only smiled proudly while the woman also quickly recovered.
Thinking that it was no wonder why a force like the Cui Clan had attempted to recruit Jian Shen even before be bad officially ascended, Lei Luli no longer felt the slightest bit hesitation in turning the Cui Clan into an enemy in exchange for recruiting Jian Shen.
"Now that you know how much stronger ascenders are, I'm sure you understand why none of the forces are willing to let any of you run around and do as you please."
"That's why every single one of the ascenders is without doubt recruited by one force or the other."
"Sure you can try to not join any force and grow strong by yourself, but with how many people will try to hunt you it will become impossible to even walk around freely much less cultivate in peace."
"Is this a threat or an invitation?"
Smiling and shaking her head, Lei Luli smother Jian Shen's arm even harder between her breasts.
"Why would I give you a threat? I'm just explaining how things usually work in the Divine Realm."
"Oh, and then what? Are you going to give me a map to the Cui Clan?"