No one had expected Attendant Ye to go from barely holding on to shrugging off the pressure from a 6th-tier cultivator. Not even Viola, who was silently watching things unfold from her flying ship, had seen this coming.
Her female attendant by the side thought to increase the press while she thought completely otherwise. She had a very, very bad feeling while looking into that pair of honey-brown eyes as disdain threatened to overflow.
Before she could naively attempt to rectify the situation, Leonardo's next words shocked everyone silly.
"You're blocking my way; move or die."
Even Viola's eyes went cold, let alone the female attendant who had long since rushed out from the Silent Melody.
The two flying ships were barely one kilometer away, that was now the distance between Leonardo and that female attendant. She wore a long white dress with short sleeves.
Her black hair flowed to her waist, and an ancient string instrument rested in her hands. As for her expression, beautiful as it was, beyond frosty.
As soon as she appeared, the pressure no less than multiplied by ten. However, and to everyone's shock, Leonardo didn't seem bothered one bit. In fact, everyone could see a silver moon tenaciously taking form above Leonardo.
"Attendant Ye is this powerful?" Lieutenant Marley couldn't believe his eyes, but he was as shocked as he was scared for the young man.
Leonardo repeated himself. "You're blocking my way; move or die."
"Ignorant fool, who do you think you are? You're a mere servant to a mere dispensable trash excuse of a young lady!" The female attendant finally snapped a nerve, cursing.
Leonardo's eyes went cold— the moon behind him didn't rotate or shift in phases. Instead, it slowly melted down to constitute a standard longsword with a sharp, glistening silver edge.
As Leonardo slowly moved the sword in preparation for a diagonal slash, the image seemed to glitch inconsistently as though he was sometimes stabbing, sometimes slashing, and sometimes merely holding the sword.
Nonetheless, a beautiful nine petals lotus was manifested in the shadow of the sword, as beautiful as it was deadly.
Although Leonardo didn't have a speed-related technique like Emily, this technique wasn't about speed. Yes, Emily could imitate the effect by striking faster than the speed it would take for the energies of the multiple attacks to overlap and react, but that stood no chance at all when compared to utilizing the technique through the law of time.
After all, this was a technique tailored for those from the Eternus branch of the Eternal Night family. Thus, when the female attendant saw Leonardo move and in turn planned to react— it was already too late.
She didn't even have the time to pull the strings of the instrument when a sensation of imminent death enveloped her from head to toe.
Bang!
A massive sword image descended from the sky, blasting into the illusory lotus. A powerful shockwave pushed the female attendant away during the split second of collision, and after that window of time, the massive sword image shattered to pieces as the lotus crossed the kilometer distance and blasted the Silent Melody.
Another explosion rumbled, with everyone on the flying ship blasting out from the epicenter— only a dignified middle-aged woman in golden phoenix robes was left unharmed as she appeared far away from the explosion.
As for the divinities and zero rebirth realm cultivators, from the 3rd-tier, 4th-tier, and 5th-tier… All of them began to age rapidly and in seconds, quickly disintegrated into ashes in the wind.
Only now did the female attendant snap out of her daze— her body shook all over, the dress drenched in sweat as it clung tightly to her curves.
She was that close to death. Even now, horror filled her eyes when Leonardo turned in her direction, the sword in his hand already fading away. However, another moon was quickly taking form behind his back, setting the woman's mind blank with fear.
At that moment, a voice echoed. "That's enough, young friend! Haha!"
Then, the massive formation surrounding the Jin Prefecture split open as a robust man who appeared to be in his late forties— though everyone knew he must be thousands of years old, stepped out.
Lieutenant Marley who was pale with fright a moment ago suddenly shook, exclaiming. "City Lord Huang!"
This was a 9th-tier powerhouse!
Suddenly, everyone recalled the massive sword image and thought that it made sense. But then, they also realized that Attendant Ye's sword blasted through it nonetheless.
The thought gave everyone shivers just thinking about it, including Viola and her female attendant.
Of course, both Leonardo had City Lord Huang knew that the sword wasn't meant to block the attack but to save that woman's life, and to also test the technique.
"Roxfield didn't lie at all about you! In fact, I dare say he didn't give you justice with his superficial eye for good techniques! Haha," City Lord Huang laughed, his voice shaking the chaotic ether all around.
Viola finally regained her wits, furrowing her brows even as she asked, "Do you have any business with my Qing family's attendant?"
She also realized how foolish her actions of putting a leash on Leonardo the moment he'd arrived were. If she could get a chance to redo things, she would wait until they made it back to the family's stronghold.
"Don't make me laugh— I have no relation to your Qing family; nor am I your attendant. Clean your mouth or you die, and no one can save you this time." Leonardo immediately cut her off before City Lord Huang could reply, shocking the woman.
"Now, now… Haha, this is a misunderstanding. You see, my brute son acted out of turn and formed an alliance between Commanding General Qing and my Renhuang family, and I have to say… I can't be more pleased with that decision.
"He said that the little girl created a sword technique unique to her divergent martial intent; a very powerful technique worth making an alliance for. Haha, worthy indeed! Come, let me be a good host!"
City Lord Huang didn't have to talk so much, but he needed to clarify things to the people watching both in the light and in the dark. He was making it clear that Leonardo was visiting the Renhuang Province as a diplomatic envoy to facilitate an alliance between Commanding General Qing and the Renhuang family.
If Leonardo's attack wasn't already shocking enough, then this piece of news was like explosives! An alliance between a family and one individual?
Since when did such things happen?
Only the wise ones from the shadows understood why City Lord Huang did what he did. If they tried to suppress Emily and ended up pushing her into the arms of the Qing family who already discarded her talent once, that would be a truly stupid decision. Thus, they might as well make an alliance and start off on a good foot.
Just like his son, City Lord Huang was a very straightforward person and didn't like to beat around the bush much. They were not people fit for schemes, but if they had someone like Leonardo who was both intelligent and powerful on their side, everything would be much easier.
Leonardo looked over at the female attendant once again as she was still in his general direction, blocking his path.
Without saying a word to Viola, he began to walk on air in the direction of the Jin Prefecture, his pace unhurried.
"Fall back," Viola called out to her attendant. Then, she cast her beautiful eyes on Ye Qing. "It was my attendant's fault this time. Attendant Rue, apologies to Attendant Ye right this instance."
When Attendant Rue heard the first part of her lady's words, she immediately fell back to the latter's side, only to hear the second part a moment later. She felt indignant and humiliated, but didn't dare retort as she could see the bigger picture.
"Don't flap your lips in my face," Leonardo interrupted. "If you want to apologize, you can come find me in the Renhuang Province, I'm afraid my mentality is very crude at the moment and I might act out in anger if I hear your annoying voice once again."
Leonardo was shedding off all pretense between himself and the female attendant. Clearly, he was allowing Viola some time to truly consider her options and how to apologize.
Viola's mind was still caught on the revelation of Emily's new achievement. Not the usurpation of power from the three houses of Xia, Freya, and Levi… But the comprehension of a deviant sword technique.
If Emily had truly comprehended that technique as well, it would spell some serious trouble. As her mind was occupied by this serious conundrum, Leonardo's words buzzed in her head.
She was briefly stunned, understanding that Leonardo was giving her— the Young Lady of House Qing, a 'chance' to sincerely apologize.
Was this some twisted joke?
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