Hearing this, Xu Ke fell completely silent.

He had to admit that he was quite envious of an organization like the Martial Alliance.

Moreover, if he could get his hands on it, it would be tantamount to cutting off Wong Ting's powerful right arm.

But the only problem was—

It was difficult.

Very difficult.

Watching Xu Ke deep in thought, Chen Xiong smiled.

In truth, Chen Xiong had his own motives for saying this.

He was going to retire. The future of the Tianhai Martial Alliance was no longer under his control. If Xu Ke could truly become part of the Martial Alliance's core, Chen Xiong believed that with his ability, he would wield great power within the organization, even if he couldn't become the Alliance Hierarch.

Looking at the worst-case scenario, Xu Ke could even return to Tianhai to become the Alliance Hierarch in the future.

This would be beneficial for both Xu Ke and the future of the Tianhai Martial Alliance. As the Alliance Hierarch, he had to be responsible for Tianhai.

At this moment, Yuan Shang spoke up, shaking his head. "Let's not discuss this," he said. "The struggle for the position of Alliance Hierarch, the internal factional disputes, and the outside world's perception of the Martial Alliance are all rather distant concerns for Xu Ke right now."

"The problem he needs to consider now is how he'll handle the upcoming grand finals of the Long Capital Alliance Hierarch Selection Competition."

Chen Xiong and Xu Ke were both slightly stunned by this.

That was true. This matter was the most pressing issue.

Xu Ke chuckled. "Indeed. Let's not even talk about competing for the Alliance Hierarch position. Whether I can emerge from the grand finals unscathed is a problem in itself."

Chen Xiong frowned. "Now that even Qian Jun has fallen to you, is there anyone else in the younger generation with more talent and strength than you?"

"No!" Yuan Shang refuted. "Alliance Leader Chen, if we're only talking about the younger generation, Xu Ke would definitely win the championship of this Alliance Hierarch Selection Competition."

"But the issue is, will Xu Ke only be facing those young people when he goes to Long Capital? I don't think so."

"Tianhai is remote, where the mountains are high and the emperor is far away, so they only sent a single Jin Hankang."

"Once we're in Long Capital, I'm afraid dozens of men like Jin Hankang will swarm him!"

Hearing this, Chen Xiong frowned. "I overlooked that."

That was the truth. Xu Ke wasn't just competing against the younger generation at this point; he was fighting against the powerful figures backing them.

Xu Ke smiled. "No need to worry. If my strength isn't at a level where I can deal with them, I certainly won't go to Long Capital, nor will I entertain any thoughts of competing for the Alliance Hierarch position."

"Otherwise, once I step onto Wong Ting's territory, you'll probably be receiving news of my death in no time."

Yuan Shang nodded in firm agreement. Some of the ideas were excellent, but he trusted that Xu Ke would assess the situation wisely.

Chen Xiong also nodded, but quickly added, "Don't say things like that, it's bad luck. Remember to spit."

Xu Ke gave a dry cough. "Alright!"

He went, "Ptooey, ptooey, ptooey."

Then, he smiled. "Fortunately, neither the struggle for the Alliance Hierarch position nor this selection competition is happening any time soon. I still have time to prepare."

The provincial selection competitions weren't over yet, so there was no need to rush.

Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang nodded.

Just then, there was a knock at the door.

KNOCK, KNOCK, KNOCK.

"Alliance Hierarch!" someone called out.

Chen Xiong stood up. "What is it?"

"Alliance Hierarch, the items have been delivered! They're downstairs."

"We're coming down now," Chen Xiong nodded immediately, then looked at Xu Ke. "Let's go."

Xu Ke was instantly overjoyed. "Great!"

Just then, his phone vibrated slightly. A notification indicated that twenty million had arrived in his account...

***

The items brought back from the Martial Alliance Treasury were guarded by a squad armed with live ammunition, all of them on high alert.

Not a single person in this group was below the Postnatal Late Stage. The strongest of them had already reached the Innate Initial Stage.

When Xu Ke saw this, he couldn't help but be astonished.

This unit is too elite!

In his mind, the Tianhai Martial Alliance had never possessed any noteworthy armed forces. This scene completely overturned his previous impression. This squad alone was astoundingly powerful...

Seeing Xu Ke's shocked expression, Yuan Shang was secretly pleased. "How about that? If we didn't show our hand, you'd never know how strong we are."

"Not only is our True Qi formidable, but our level of modernization is also very high. Our comprehensive combat power is off the charts."

Xu Ke nodded. "Indeed, very strong."

"Don't get too smug," Chen Xiong said coolly from ahead. "These men can't just come out and act freely; they are the treasury guards. The regular combat strength of the Tianhai Martial Alliance is quite weak."

Yuan Shang shrugged helplessly.

Hearing this, Xu Ke nodded on the surface. "I see."

But inwardly, he thought, "For some reason, I just don't believe him."

As they approached the men, they immediately snapped to attention and saluted, their voices steady. "Greetings to the Alliance Hierarch, Vice Alliance Leader Yuan, and Mister Xu."

As they spoke, they cast grateful glances at Xu Ke.

Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang nodded with composure, but Xu Ke was rather flattered. He hadn't expected to be addressed as well...

Seeing Xu Ke's reaction, Yuan Shang and Chen Xiong smiled.

The captain of the guard stepped forward, his usually stern face cracking into a somewhat stiff smile. "Mister Xu, we were also at the competition a few days ago. We were extremely grateful for your actions that day."

"Otherwise, the competition held here in Tianhai would have become an indelible disgrace for our Martial Alliance!"

Hearing this, Xu Ke finally understood why these men had greeted him. His expression couldn't help but turn solemn as he said, "It was what I had to do. After all, I am also a member of the Tianhai Martial Alliance."

When Chen Xiong and Yuan Shang heard this, they exchanged a look, and smiles appeared on both their faces.

Giving Xu Ke a sense of belonging was a significant gain...

***

Inside the room.

The curtains were drawn tightly, and the lights blazed brightly. Below them sat several tables.

On the tables, a number of safes kept their contents locked away, making it impossible to see what was inside. Xu Ke did a rough count and estimated there were about ten of them.

Xu Ke was taken aback. "Are they really this secure?" He had assumed that the moment he walked in, he would be able to see at a glance which items contained Dragon Essence and which did not.

"These are all priceless artifacts," Yuan Shang explained eloquently. "They are entrusted to our care because their discovery was related to the Tianhai Martial Alliance and Martial Artists. Otherwise, they'd have been sent to a museum for schoolchildren to look at long ago."

Chen Xiong picked up the conversation. "If you want to open them, here are the codes."

"Each time a specific category of items from the treasury is accessed, we have to retrieve the codes. After the items are sealed away again, the codes are reset."

He took out a piece of paper crammed with ten strings of numbers.

Xu Ke marveled, "How meticulous."

Of course, there was another thought he didn't voice: This is all a bit of a hassle.

"Alright, it's your turn to choose. Go on, open them one by one!" Yuan Shang patted Xu Ke's shoulder with a wide grin.

Taking the paper with the codes, Xu Ke walked toward the safes.

As he did, a sense of anticipation inexplicably began to build in his heart.

I have to say, even though it's a hassle, this lottery-style unboxing really gets my heart racing...