The cultivator from the black market was obviously using the "outburst" as an excuse to test out Leonardo's power. After all, who would send a short-tempered cultivator to conduct negotiations? That would be the true blunder.
Feeling that the little trick was exposed, this cultivator in black coughed awkwardly and returned a sharp gaze to the young man from the Violet Mountain sect.
A young man from the Constellation Terrace Pavilion felt delighted about the fat pie his sect obtained and snorted in derision. "Just because your Violet Moutain is perceived as the top sect of the eight mountains, this doesn't mean you can run your mouth carelessly."
The Eight Mountains are separated from the weakest to the strongest according to the colors white, red, orange, yellow, emerald, blue, and violet. The weakest of the seven doesn't fall within the rankings, and these rankings are determined via a competition between the juniors of each star cycle's generation.
Of course, the four pavilions don't involve themselves with these competitions as their paths are one-dimensional, save for the alchemy which split into a pill concoction pavilion and a physician pavilion, even though they originate from the same dao of alchemy.
Thus, even though the Violet Mountain Sect was ahead of the rest during the generation of the current star cycle, the juniors from the four pavilions didn't care one bit.
"Rich coming from you; what did you bribe that upstart with?!"
The young master from the top sect wasn't convinced, and his temper started getting the better of him. The old man felt cold to his feet, thinking that this entire negotiation was a blunder.
The cultivator from the black market was also sweating as Leonardo's gaze had yet to shift elsewhere, but he could finally relax as Leonardo's eyes slowly moved over to the clown show in his great hall.
"If you think you can afford to bribe me, I'll give you a chance," Leonardo's voice wasn't loud, but it drew everyone's attention as he waved over three framed and decorated contracts inscribed on magical, ether-infused paper. "I have with me three deeds to the estates of the City Lord Manor to the cities west, south, and north of my Obsidian Castle respectively; I am offering them for a private open auction right this moment… Only, keep in mind that you're betting with the annual tribute."
The young man was about to retort but his words got caught in his throat. Just as he was about to make a rude remark, Leonardo continued, "If you become the city lord, you will have the authority to charge for taxes from the residents of your city, wouldn't that be great?"
At Leonardo's words and his faint smile, the young man's eyes lit up. As for the young man and the elders from the four pavilions, especially the two who hadn't obtained any lands yet, their expressions went dim.
If the eight mountains were the landlords, they would definitely charge heavy taxes from the four pavilions. However, the four pavilions didn't focus on management like the ordinary sects and wouldn't know how to operate a city, even if the flow of traffic would eventually lie in their hands. This way, neither party can take advantage of one another, forcing them to suppress each other while also looking out for the other party's benefits lest they draw spite to themselves. They wanted to pressure Leonardo, but he beat them to it by using their hot-blooded young masters against one another.
This wouldn't have worked if Leonardo didn't get a clear grasp on the personalities of their young masters, but these idiots had to disregard the rebirth realm elders by their side from the very beginning, displaying that at the end of the day, their status was enough to speak on behalf of the sect if Leonardo had to choose between the elders or the young masters.
"What do we use for bets?"
Since they have lost the initiative, the old man decided to stop playing smart and try that another time when they weren't burdened by children. For now, he would rather proceed smoothly than allow Leonardo to pull a wedge between the elders and the young masters by purposefully steering the conversation in that direction.
Leonardo was a bit surprised that the old man didn't object, he was planning to tease the proud young master of the strongest sect when someone attempted to discuss terms, but the old man skipped all of that.
With a sigh, Leonardo touched his chin lightly as he sank into thought.
"Can my Wind Fall Pavilion join the betting as well?" Aurora suddenly asked, this question was on the mind of the old man from the Constellation Terrace as well, he simply had no idea how to ask.
"Aren't you being a bit too greedy here?!"
It was someone from a different mountain great sect who spoke up this time, feeling like the Wind Fall Pavilion was reaching too far with its claws. However, how could Leonardo, the auctioneer, miss such an opportunity to simulate them?
"Of course, you can," he nodded firmly. "Why would I stop you?"
The young man was about to fume again, but an old hand settled on his shoulder.
Turning his head, he noticed his elder lightly shaking his head.
At the end of the day, this turned into a competition between the twelve great sects instead of a joint effort to suppress Leonardo. Of course, if Leonardo didn't have the support of Memento Mori behind him, there was no way in hell these elders would sit around and play mind games with the kid.
"Great," Aurora smiled faintly.
"Tsk! Slut," murmured the young man from the Violet Mountian Sect, incensed. He could swear that this woman from the Wind Fall Pavilion slept with Leonardo or something to be provided such biased treatment.
Whisper as he might, everyone here was a master; what was said wasn't left unheard.
Aurora shuddered with rage, but she didn't act out as the words of a woman in this situation are useless. Only Leonardo, with his status and strength, can deny these accusations. However, Leonardo didn't care enough about these childish trifles to speak up, he directly skipped over to the auction's currency and declared.
"The standard currency is pure ether fragments and/or resources of similar value to the last bid; I will only accept resources from tier 6 and above, preferably law essence crystals as well."
