The young man was a bit surprised as he responded, "She even told you about that? Well, this makes things much easier. Yes, we want you to partake in that expedition and fulfill a mission for us."
The young man reached over for one of the guest seats, occupied it, and continued, "Of course, your efforts won't go unrewarded. Here is a list of some trinkets that might be prepared for you, Attendant Ye."
Leonardo thought to himself that these people are most certainly clueless about his exchange with City Lord Huang in front of the Jin Prefecture's formation. This also shows that no matter how powerful the Black Market's people are, they don't have a single 9th-tier cultivator in the prefecture, or perhaps they don't have anyone on that level near the outskirts of the prefecture where the cities of the seven families are scattered.
With this thought in mind, Leonardo's eyes flashed as he asked, "What kind of a mission is it that I must accomplish?"
Even as he asked, he received the information chip from the young man and browsed through its contents. His eyebrows rose as he said, "This generous?"
The list contained hundreds of 5th-tier and 6th-tier cultivation materials, tens of 7th-tier, and a few 8th-tier. All of them were valuable treasures with abundant spirituality and traces of law infused within their roots. And they could help just about anyone to smoothly contemplate their Dao in the best state of mind.
There was even information about the location of a petal of Origin Flower, something extracted from the Flower of Origin, a spiritual material that blossoms in the resting place of a Star Lord cultivator who failed to achieve Unity and open the universe inside their body of law, allowing heaven and earth to assimilate their years of foundation and cultivation and birth this worldly treasure.
This was a valuable treasure to every Star Lord out there.
Leonardo was genuinely surprised. "You really have information regarding the whereabouts of an Origin Flower?"
The young man flashed a smile. "Well, not a flower, only a petal. A single petal is useless to the 9th-tier powerhouses and so, its allure only draws those in the 7th-tier and 8th-tier, as it could guide them all the way to the 9th-tier."
Leonardo thought for a bit and nodded. "It's not a flawless method to advance, their cultivation would ultimately stop at the 9th-tier due to their flawed Dao, but that's enough for them to roam the world unfettered."
Everyone who reached the four realms of rebirth had their own Dao and comprehensions. If they polluted their laws with external influence, it would only prove the more impossible to achieve unity between their spirit, sub-dimension, and body of law to create a universe seed.
Although this treasure is useless for Leonardo at the moment, he could gift it to someone else if the need arises.
The young man raised his eyebrows. "Attendant Ye, don't tell me you aspire to go beyond the 9th-tier with your cultivation?"
Leonardo tilted his head and asked, "Why not?"
The young man was silent for a bit, then smiled. "I'm afraid if I had to answer that question, I'd touch upon some secrets you're not qualified to know yet. However, if you make sufficient contributions on this expedition and satisfy our requirements, we might let you know."
Leonardo smiled. "Your status in the Black Market seems to be very… high?"
"Haha," the young man laughed. "You flatter me, I'm just an errand boy running my mouth a little more than I should. Let's get to business now."
As he spoke, the young man tossed over a black pill.
He said while smiling, "You're smart, you know what to do."
Leonardo rolled his eyes and swallowed the pill without a second of hesitation. Then, as the pill dissolved into his body of law, black shackles surfaced on his skin, wiggling about like worms before slowly fading into his flesh, bones, and star core.
The young man nodded with satisfaction as he said. "You're quite clever."
Then, his smile disappeared and his tone changed, as though a superior addressing one of his subjects. "We don't expect you to complete the mission beyond our expectations, but we won't tolerate any failures either. As for the mission details, we need you to investigate the remnants of a planet called Earth and the galaxy which contained it."
Leonardo was shocked inside, but he displayed a befuddled look on the outside as he inquired, "Planet Earth? What's so special about it?"
"Everything," the young man responded heavily. "It's the only place with anything remotely close to Leonardo's origins, and I'm certain it wouldn't go up in smoke and disappear just like that. Even if it was destroyed, there must be some secret left behind, perhaps a message or a signal for Leonardo, and we need you to retrieve it before he makes his way back there."
Leonardo had a strange expression as he said, "If I'm not wrong, wasn't he delivered as a slave from a planet in the lower dimensions of a stellar world? If that were the case, doesn't this mean anyone on my level of power can obliterate that remote corner of the lower dimensions as soon as I step inside?"
The young man scoffed. "That's what everyone used to think, but we're all wrong. In fact, the space of that galaxy had been reinforced beyond our imaginations. I dare say that even a Star Lord can walk through that galaxy at ease without causing as much as a ripple in space-time."
Leonardo's expression turned even stranger as he asked, "What's that supposed to mean?"
The young man's expression turned grave as he responded, "We suspect that the space-time of that particular galaxy had overlapped with the inner world of a Unity realm cultivator, someone powerful enough to give the illusion of an entire galaxy functioning just fine while concealing the original planet. If I'm not wrong, perhaps only Leonardo can enter the original planet Earth. With that in mind, we prepared tools for you, tools which you can use to attempt and break the illusion and find out whatever it is that planet is hiding."
Leonardo's heart thumped in his chest. He hadn't expected to hear about planet Earth once again, now of all times. With the time dilation, tens if not hundreds of years must have passed on that little planet, but he also understood that if his mother wanted to erase every trace of the Evernight Group on the planet, it would be easy. In fact, she could regress the civilization just as easily as she could progress it.
Influencing the memories and history of a few billion non-cultivators would be as easy as turning her palm. However, what realms of power could obscure an entire galaxy from the eyes of so many rebirth realm cultivators? The formation had subtly influenced the entire region of space-time to the point where Star Lords can freely roam about the lower dimensions, hence, one can imagine how powerful of a formation it was.
Thinking about it, Leonardo figured that this might be his mother's way of protecting the planet that sheltered them and constituted his childhood and growth. As for any secrets? Leonardo was almost certain that his mother didn't leave anything behind, as she wouldn't want to implicate those innocent people anymore.
Leonardo sighed. "So that's my mission? To bring back or uncover some hidden secret that might or might not exist? Aren't you being a little… ridiculous?"
The young man's eyes went sharp as he said, "Whether this is ridiculous or not has nothing to do with you, Attendant Ye. All you need to do is follow our instructions and investigate that place… I mean, the Milky Way Galaxy and planet Earth."
Leonardo thought for a bit and said, "If time-space was really influenced, haven't you thought of the possibility that the entire planet and its galaxy were sent to a different timeline altogether? A parallel plane of existence perhaps?"
Leonardo knew that such things were possible since Wendy's co-soul had come from a parallel universe, the same way he and his mother did in the past. It's not beyond the realm of possibility for an entire planet to be shipped away through space-time, especially some little celestial body from the lower dimensions of a stellar world. If that were to be the case, then no matter how much they searched for that planet, it would have long been sent to an alternate reality with little to do with them.
He didn't know if his mother was capable of doing that, but according to his speculations from whatever insights gained from the Infernal Throne's fragments and the memories of Dizmason Eternus, Leonardo knew for a fact that he doesn't belong to this plane or timeline. If anything, his father must have been able to send powerful cultivators, presumably above the Unity realm, through space-time to an alternate reality and an alternate timeline. If the gap in strength between his parents wasn't that large, it wouldn't be surprising for his mother to accomplish something similar if she tried her best together with Nightshade.
Of course, these were but speculations, and to get answers, Leonardo thought to confront his mother directly, or find Eternus and inquire about the situation from that man. If Eternus was also powerful enough to cross timelines, he must know something.
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