Klaus appeared on the first floor of the Jade Vault, appearing in front of a large statue. The statue depicts a man unleashing a wide arc with his swords.

Klaus regarded it for a few seconds before turning away.

He could tell the statue was not simple; however, he didn’t place much emphasis on it, since his mission had nothing to do with it.

He wanted to go to the seventh floor since, from what Queen Mantis said, he would find something that would impress him.

"Icon, start scanning the floors and let me know if there is something good that would interest me," he gave an order to Icon before turning to the next objective.

He retrieved the Demon Bead and opened the portal.

Rory and the rest of his teammates walked out first.

Crux came out next, and then the 7th Jade Queen and her team followed.

It had been 4 days since they entered the Demon Bead. That was enough time for her teammates to recover somehow. Thankfully, the Immortal Essence Water that Klaus gave them helped.

Crux really did a number on them.

Looking at them, he knew they had recovered somehow. Though he can sense some apprehension toward Crux coming from them.

"Welcome to the first floor of the Jade Vault."

They all looked around, examining their new environment.

"Has it already opened?" Princess Evren asked, her focus turning to the statue.

"No."

"Then how did you manage to enter?"

"I have backdoor access. That said, it wouldn’t be long before it opens for those still alive to enter. Oh, I met with the god beasts, and indeed, they had orders from someone to kill all of us. I managed to convince her to spare us, but the same cannot be said for the others.

That said, if everything goes as planned, the death toll would be reduced dramatically."

They nodded, though he could tell from their expressions that they were in shock. Hearing he had met a god beast that had been ordered to kill the likes of him, yet had managed to come out alive, impressed them a bit, and their respect for him shot up.

But they couldn’t help but wonder just what kind of existence he is. No ordinary human can be this amazing.

"So what next?" Rory asked, holding Klaus’s hand.

"We are inside the Jade Vault, my dear. The only thing we can do now is take what we can before it opens. By then, the humans and beasts would swarm this place, raising the difficulty to a whole new level."

They nodded.

It would indeed be a bit chaotic when that happens. However, since they have a head start, taking advantage of it seems like the most logical decision.

Icon sent Klaus a message, so he opened it to see its content.

<All floors have been scanned, and a map of the treasures has been created. I did not identify any valuable treasure that would benefit the master, though.>

’Oh, that is a bit shocking, don’t you think? For a queen such as the Jade Ant Queen, I expected her to have overpowered treasures lying around.’

Klaus was a bit stunned to find that there weren’t any treasures of importance to him on any of the 6 floors.

<I suspect she is just like the master. Most of her treasures are soul-bound, so only she could use them.>

’That makes sense, but still a bit shocking.’

<To be honest with the master, there aren’t many treasures here. There are even some that I am not sure can be claimed, considering they are hidden behind layers of formations. I have also located the doorway to the 7th floor.>

Klaus accepted his loss since that was the only thing he could do.

However, with this information now at his disposal, he knew where he had to go. The invisible 7th floor is now his destination.

But before that, he turned to Princess Evren and asked:

"I suppose now would be the best time to tell me why you chose to enter this Nest."

There is no doubt she came to look for treasures. Everyone entered to look for treasures; however, someone with her status wouldn’t enter for just any treasure.

As expected, she nodded and replied:

"I am indeed here for a reason. In fact, now that I am inside the vault, finding it would be very simple." She turned and looked at her teammates before adding, "I am here to find the Jade Pendant."

Klaus nodded, a bit taken aback, but managed to maintain his composure.

The Jade Pendant is a mental-type treasure. When used, it enhances the wearer’s mental attack. Of course, the only reason he knew how it worked was that he had experienced its lethal power before, and so he was a bit stunned to hear the Jade Princess was here for the same thing.

<The Jade Pendant is on the 6th floor, Master.>

’Thank you, Icon.’

Klaus sighed first and spoke:

"The Jade Pendant is on the 6th floor. It will take a while to get there, but I believe we can get there before the vault opens to the public."

Klaus wanted to leave the vault before everyone else entered. This was so he could plan well for the danger ahead of them.

"I guess I will be in your care then." After what she had been through a couple of days ago, she knew better than to play the high and mighty card.

Klaus had proven how capable he is, and so accepting his kind gesture was only right.

Then again, if only she knew Klaus only wanted her to get her hands on the pendant so she would become much stronger and more useful for the coming battle, perhaps she wouldn’t have seen him in the same light.

’Icon, draw a path that will take us through places where some of the treasures are. While I don’t need them, I have wives who might find them useful.’

<The master can just focus on his mission. I will summon some of your beasts and lead them to the treasures. I will leave a clone behind to handle that.>

’Well, I have no reason to reject such an offer.’

"Then we should be on our way."

They soon left. A few minutes after they were gone, a clone of Icon appeared from thin air and smiled. She snapped her tiny fingers, and a portal opened.

From within, over a thousand Real Immortal-level beasts and five True Immortals walked out, every last one of them in their demi-human form.

"Alright, like we discussed, we all should do our best, and maybe I will be impressed and gift you all a drop of Master’s blood."

They nodded and got to work.

Icon watched them go, an evil smile playing on her face.

What Klaus didn’t know was that, while the treasures may be useless to him, there are thousands of them scattered across the vault, and Icon intended to take every last one of them.

In a few weeks, when the vault finally opens, not even a single treasure will be found.

In her defence, she had yet to gain access to Klaus’s vaults from his past lives, so when she gained access to those belonging to others, she wouldn’t be polite. 𝓯𝙧𝓮𝓮𝒘𝓮𝙗𝙣𝒐𝒗𝒆𝓵.𝓬𝓸𝒎

So they got to work. With Klaus soon going into battle, maybe he would find some of the treasures useful.

Three weeks later, Klaus and the others arrived on the 6th floor. By then, Icon and her cohort of thieves had arrived on the 5th floor.