In the Shi Manor of the 7th district in Greenheart City, in the meeting hall, a group of people in daoist robes sat in a half circle while chatting briefly with one another.
At the head of the circle sat Madeline who returned to accompany the guests while also tasked with renting a flying boat to bring Elizabeth's old man and Blaire, the young woman who almost landed Leonardo in a bind with the Oliver Estate Lord with her petty schemes. Up to this point, Madeline had no clue whatsoever why Leonardo kept this woman around, but she knew better than to ask for details.
At this moment, the communication bracelet on her left hand flashed— same with the communication bracelets on the hands of the various elders and young men in the hall.
The room suddenly went quiet as everyone examined the contents of their messages while the content was fairly similar; Leonardo, Rosaline, and Aurora finished with the construction of the palace on the mountain range.
"Let's get going and get this hassle over with," snorted a young man, one of the three who circled Rosaline last month. He was a little sour over the fact he was threatened by a woman— especially when he was positive about his advantage in the confrontation.
"Don't be impulsive," the elder by his side hurried to whisper, giving the rest of the cultivators a look. Everyone here represented a specific force from the martial faction; the four pavilions included.
A total of twelve great sects dispatched representatives.
Even though the old man had no clue as to why they were sent to feel things out and were ordered to establish connections with this upstart force, just like any other old cultivator, he assumed this force was a sign of Memento Mori climbing to the surface while the sects wanted to use this wave as a springboard into the struggles of the secular world.
The three dynasties are already too powerful to control from the shadows or deposit a puppet ruler while everyone saw the ending of the Lost Dynasty when it attempted to reach its claws too far into the ruling seats of the other three dynasties.
Since this Evernight Crown was supported by Memento Mori from the shadows, they could forget about controlling Leonardo, forcing them to focus on diplomatic relations instead. Not to mention, this young man Leonardo was allegedly hand-picked by Grandmaster Sin.
The old man didn't wish for the impulsive actions of this proud junior to burn all bridges.
The young man snorted, his high divinity aura flooding the room.
The air buzzed while the old man and Blaire who stood confused behind Madeline swayed, blood trickling down their lips.
Bang!
Madeline's aura also exploded— she wasn't that far from achieving the peak of her realm and starting the zero rebirth process of constructing a star core. Although both her cultivation and that young man were at the high divinity threshold, she had the augmentation of a natural treasure's law essence fragment on her side, almost causing the young man's aura to backlash on him.
Pfft!
The young man staggered back, his long black hair blasted into disarray while his eyes reddened.
"You dare?!"
He shouted, about to lunge forward at this young girl dressed in a main outfit. He didn't understand why a maid could share a seat of equal level to himself or how would a maid be at the level of a high divinity— enough to thrash him into stepping back. However, he understood the look of scorn in the eyes of his peers very well.
"Those are my words, you imbecile," Madeline furrowed her brows, and before anyone could snap out of their shock, a black longbow was held firmly in her grasp as wisps of smoke condensed into six arrows lined up in pairs, each pair merging as three arrows rested on the bowstring with heavy tension.
No one had anticipated that Madeline would snap out for the sake of two non-cultivators, and before they knew it, the fight had almost escalated into a moment of life and death.
Whoosh!
The old man stepped out and appeared between Madeline and his sect junior, his tranquil aura like a flickering flame as it swayed and dispelled the auras of both parties.
He coughed awkwardly, "This… Please calm down, the both of you…"
He only chose to speak as he had recognized the archery technique, something that the others had also picked up. They felt a bit baffled that Leonardo left behind a high divinity from the brotherhood to look after these two non-cultivators, they didn't know that Madeline simply stayed behind to focus on her cultivation.
"People from the Violet Mountain Sect are always so impulsive, it really drags the dignity of us grand sects through the mud," a young man with an erudite air around him snorted, unfolding a fan with the insignia of a magical quill on its fabric.
The young man's expression went white from anger as he suddenly laughed, not even bothering to conceal his disgust. "Sounds rich coming from such a pretentious prick such as yourself, especially since your four pavilions had to leave a woman behind to appease someone; I wonder how that's going about…"
The Eight Mountains and Four Pavilions of the Twelve Great Sects are always at odds internally, just like how the Three Dynasties are at odds. Where there are people, there are interests and differences.
They simply needed a bit of a stimulus and chaos ensues.
The Core Mainland is vast, and years of conflicts large and small slowly shaped up the territories of every faction on its surface. However, when something new popped into the picture, something for the various powers to contest over, these small and hidden conflicts would slowly but surely fester to the surface.
Leonardo expected as much and he was prepared, but Madeline was confused and baffled by the sudden turn of events. Speechless, she watched the argument blow out of proportion as words that made even Madeline blush in shame were spat out to the open.
"Enough!"
