"Excuse me?" Viola raised her eyebrows. "You want me to go over and apologize?"
Leonardo gave her a sidelong glance. "You came all the way here to put a leash on me, even though you failed… miserably. You can make yet another trip to fix your attitude."
By the time he finished talking, he was already standing next to City Lord Huang, and he gave the latter a courteous bow. "Thank you for coming, senior. We can get going now."
City Lord Huang laughed heartily. He may have been straightforward but he wasn't stupid, if anyone below the 9th-tier came over to fetch Leonardo, it would face severe opposition from the other factions since anyone below that level of power could have some leeway to make petty squabbles. However, 9-th tier cultivators can't just squabble like little children and they must go through 'reason' to settle their issues.
With Leonardo assuming the identity of a diplomatic envoy to represent his lady for an alliance, that status supersedes that of an attendant to the Qing family, especially after the delegates of this family attempted to humiliate and target Leonardo.
City Lord Huang happened to be around, mediate the conflict, and save the life of someone from the Qing family with one move. If he wanted to invite the diplomatic envoy back to his stronghold after stopping this mess from escalating into a huge scandal, who can stop him?
Noticing City Lord Huang's attitude, Viola couldn't say anything. House Renhuang gave Leomardo absurd amounts of face and respect by dispatching a 9th-tier powerhouse to fetch the young man. Despite her status as the future matriarch of the Qing family, which was no longer certain if her half-sister had truly overcome the deficiencies in her cultivation, she could not compare to a City Lord.
No matter where it was, only a 9th-tier powerhouse could hold the position of a City Lord throughout the Three Dynasties, Four Pavilions, and Eight Mountains. The only exception to this rule would be the territory of the Evernight Crown, as the City Lords of the Lush Skirts Plains Province banded together to cast a ban forbidding powerful rebirth cultivators from crossing over, as ordered by the high officials of the Luan Dynasty.
As a power advocating for peace and stability, focusing on economic and technological supremacy, the Luan Dynasty didn't wish to end up as the center of a war involving the various powerful factions. They didn't wish to become the second Lost Dynasty.
Viola didn't even dare ask Leonardo to compensate for the Silent Melody, even though it was no more than a signature of her presence and she could always have a second and a third Silent Melody, many people took notice of her flying ship leaving the Qing stronghold.
It would be rather awkward for her to return with the ship now, not to mention how the people from the Renhuang family, as in their soldiers, would most likely spread the news of what happened.
Her eyes suddenly went cold as she stared at the flying ship one kilometer away.
"Reign in your temper, little girl." City Lord Huang said, his smile growing wider yet colder even as he spoke. "I can't let you bully my people under my nose now, can I?"
Viola took a deep breath and looked at Leonardo. "Was it your idea to have these soldiers escort you back?"
Since there weren't any people from the Qing family on the flying ship, she couldn't make a move and kill them all. However, thinking about it, why would the escort team be from a different sector? Only now did she have the time to ponder this over. It seemed as though this Attendant Ye had already made ample preparations since early on. She creased her brows, finding this little guy to be quite the tough character to subdue.
Moreover, they only know that her half-sister had been grooming him in secret but had almost nothing else on him… Did this indicate an impending clash for the seat of power in the Qing family? Viola knew that although most elders seemed supportive of her ascension to power, this pebble in the pond will cause many ripples, swaying the hearts of the dissatisfied elders.
Viola thinned her lips and reluctantly withdrew her gaze from Leonardo, seeing as he had no intentions to look at her, let alone replying to the question.
Viola then looked at Attendant Rue. "Let's get going, I need to report back to the elders and the patriarch."
Only a patriarch would exceed the status of a city lord, especially City Lord Huang. In the Renhuang family, the Ren branch members are those with true power as the main line of the family. Every patriarch comes from the Ren branch, while the Huang branch is responsible for cities and diplomatic affairs outside and inside the Jin Prefecture political scene, the Ren branch is a group of very talented cultivators who focus on pursuing absolute strength while hiding away in sealed sub-dimensions, cultivating.
The least outstanding member of the present Ren branch generation would leave the sub-dimension and take a post as the patriarch of the family, yet this person would be capable of easily overpowering someone like City Lord Huang despite sharing the same cultivation realm.
However, despite this power, the imperial family had them pressed under the thumb for thousands of years. They can't rashly move out, lest they invite disaster. The imperial family allowed them to exist only as a deterrent against the other two dynasties and as a balancing check against the other houses. Rumors even claim that the Ren branch of the Renhuang family is so prosperous because of a secret marriage between an outstanding member of the imperial family and a woman from the Ren branch in the past, and their progeny quickly elevated the skill threshold of the branch.
No one knows if these rumors were true or false, and the only way to find out would be to deeply venture into the Ren Secret Realm. However, who would be so bored as to do that?
If that man and woman were still alive, they might have already reached realms beyond the 9th-tier, their cultivation unfathomable. Furthermore, that would also imply a connection between the Renhaung family and the Jin imperial family, even if that member from a distant past was announced to be an outcast from the Jin imperial family, no one knows if he had some secret backing in the imperial court.
City Lord Huang was gone from the City Lord Manor for too long now, and he was in a rush to get back as soon as possible. Thus, he wrapped up Leonardo in his domain and prepared to set off.
Leonardo closed his eyes to feel City Lord Huang's power, comparing it to Junior Brother's powers. As expected, it was a bit lacking in comparison.
He really wondered just how powerful was the second generation of the Memento Mori brotherhood if Junior Brother, presumably someone from the third generation, was already so powerful. They're truly worthy of being the surviving remnants of a fallen dynasty.
Then, how powerful was Grandmaster Sin?
These thoughts plagued Leonardo's mind even as both he and City Lord Huang disappeared silently. As for Viola, she gave the flying ship a cold glare, tempted to make a move.
"My lady…" Attendant Rue whispered in fright, not expecting her young lady to be so stubborn. Luckily, the latter merely snorted and turned around, disappearing into the protective formation.
Lieutenant Marley finally relaxed, his body covered in sweat even as his legs shook. In a second, he fell on his rear, breathing heavily while wiping off his forehead.
He cursed, laughing. "Fucking bold!"
Next to him, the soldiers who felt like they'd somehow survived a catastrophe, also laughed while hugging one another. This was… exhilarating!
Viola only gave up on silencing these soldiers because she knew they weren't the only audience, as many eyes must have been watching from the dark, and these were people who couldn't wait to watch the world burn in chaos.
As she had expected, the news exploded like flames in a sea of flammables. Almost everyone from the seven families had learned of what happened by the evening of the same day, and the news swept through the neighboring provinces overnight.
The outcast Commanding General who had her name crossed from the family's genealogy thousands of years ago, returned to the political structure with her new status as an ally to the Renhuang family.
An alliance between an individual and an entire family of the seven families!
That was borderline impossible in the minds of many people. Then, they also heard that Commanding General Qing had an exchange of pointers with Roxfield, Commanding General Renhuang, and the son of City Lord Huang… and she won within five seconds!
This news was deliberately released to the public by City Lord Huang after deep consideration and a nudge from Leonardo. Another piece of information was that Commanding General Qing started practicing the deviant sword technique after taking Attendant Ye under her wing in the past.
Many people began to calculate like crazy about a sudden possibility; creating a new technique is absolutely impossible, especially for a deviant path. Then, could it be that the technique originated from Attendant Ye, hence why Commanding General Qing treats him so well?
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