"That's sister Emily," Sivan followed Leonardo's gaze and quietly mumbled into his ear. "She's usually very reclusive and anti-social, I didn't think she would also join to meet our Attendant Ye."
Leonardo had the urge to laugh. As expected, Emily wasn't her real name, not to mention when she withdrew the shadows concealing her figure back then, she adopted the face of a maid.
Despite Sivan's words, anyone could see the envy in her eyes, the same envy reflected in the other maids' eyes. It couldn't be helped as Emily was far too beautiful for a maid, and she was also a Tier 3 cultivator just like them.
Leonardo had never thought about it before but it suddenly dawned upon him that while divinities were supreme rulers and high elders in places like Arcadia, the stellar worlds, and the hidden sects… They were mere servants and soldiers in the Jin Dynasty, and perhaps the same goes for the other two dynasties.
"Got it," Leonardo nodded. The other maids and servants didn't have the guts to get involved with a hot shot like Leonardo now, they could only gossip to themselves in the distance, learning from Gal and Sivan that they should call him Diz in the outside world.
Only Leonardo knew this was adopted from the name Dizmason, allegedly the warrior from House Eternus that was supposed to descend on his infant body, but was sealed into the black sea of his consciousness instead. For now, two of the seven lifetimes of Dizmason were extracted by Leonardo and imparted to Ingrid and Rosaline respectively, with five refined recollections to spare.
It could be said that within the same realm, Ingrid and Rosaline would find no match whatsoever, save for Leonardo himself as he holds dominion over their lives the moment they've accepted the seeds of inheritance and the burden of the karma involved.
"Ladies," a hoarse voice intruded on Leonardo's thoughts as he turned his head and noticed a group of brawny, topless soldiers creeping their way over. They leaned their bodies against the railing separating the open area from the wrestling ring as their eyes glittered.
Their leader was a tall man of considerable looks and fierce scars, the most prominent was a slash from his collarbone to the center of his chest, as though someone had attempted to cleave the man in half but narrowly failed with the endeavor.
Recalling Gal's advice, Leonardo didn't even bother turning his head to look at the encroaching trouble.
With a light shake of his head, he shuttled his way through the crowd of maids and leaned comfortably against the railing by Emily's side.
"What a surprise," he mused, eyes half-squinted. He hadn't expected this woman to be mingling together with the lower bracket of the military camp as a maid on her days off. Then again, he presumed this might be an occupational disease that haunted these people from the Black Market.
Emily cracked a faint smile and didn't respond, tugging at the sweater that covered her slim shoulders and wrapping the maid outfit, her dark eyes scanning Leonardo from head to toe. "Never thought that the arrogant and haughty you knew how to mingle with low-borns either."
If she didn't know any better, she'd have taken Leonardo as someone raised by the curriculum of her Black Market. The two of them hit it off with a light conversation while exchanging some crucial information in a cryptic tone.
Leonardo carried his gaze deeper inland with a faint smile as he said, "It's good that you're here, we need to help those little boys handle their negotiations."
Emily raised an eyebrow, amused. "Are you telling me what to do?"
Leonardo chuckled dryly and said, "I was planning to make the trip personally, but on second thought, I think we'd have a better chance at persuading those old fellows if you tag along."
"You don't think they have what it takes to seal the deal?"
"More or less. Usually, those who seek out an external party for aid are one of two… They're weak and desperate for shelter or strong yet don't bother exposing their power. If we decided to seek an alliance with the initiative before meeting a deadlock situation, the other forces might take us as a force with hidden power." Leonardo explained while touching his chin, and his explanation sounded reasonable.
Emily's eyes sparkled, "You're planning to give them the illusion that we have this power, subtly changing their attitude from the top to the bottom?"
Emily finally understood some of Leonardo's true motives for proposing this deal. However, she was somewhat confused about how to proceed forward.
A display of strength with two rebirth realm cultivators wasn't really a display of strength unless she had the power to overwhelm the Commanding General in a fair battle. If the two sectors were to compete in numbers, this will no longer be a contest between the two sectors but will draw the attention of everyone else.
Leonardo continued, "I was planning to go with the identity of your secret little attendant that you've nurtured, but this identity leaves too many loopholes and could be troublesome… Since you're here, you can do the fighting while I handle everything else."
The two were about to continue their conversation when the ruckus in the background started getting louder and louder, to the extent that it bordered a chaotic mix of shouts and curses.
Neither Leonardo nor Emily had the patience to handle the squabbles of these ants. With an annoyed expression at being interrupted, Emily grunted coldly as a wave of mental pressure descended on the bar.
Like the flip of a page, the ruckus was swatted away by a wave of silence as everyone in the bar stumbled to the ground, eyes glazed over. The subtle resonance of music in the background was all that was left of the previous lively scene.
Leonardo sighed and shook his head.
He knew those guys must have been drawn over by Emily's beauty and tried their best to make a scene and guilt-trap this beauty by bullying the servants and maids. Alas, this wasn't some story where they left an impression on the heroine by triggering her anger; they were lucky she didn't outright flatten them to dust, especially with the brewing tension in the dynasty weighing on her mind.
Emily didn't have the heart to listen to Leonardo's explanation anymore as she waved her hand and said candidly, "Wait for me while I change my get up, I can't go outside like this."
…
Leonardo floated above the military base high in the clouds as he faced inland, his white robe fluttering in the wind with a white mask condensed from desolation essence covering his face. He didn't change his appearance from the Attendant Ye disguise as no outsiders would recognize him anyway.
Suddenly, space twisted by his side as a drop-dead gorgeous lady with flowing golden hair and a white mask stepped out. She leveled her gaze on Leonardo's mask and was a little surprised, this mask didn't simply block her senses but outright devoured and corroded them like a dreadful plague.
"We can't outnumber him and call it a victory, he wouldn't be convinced and will undoubtedly start drawing in allies thinking that two houses are cornering his house," Emily expressed her concerns.
"You alone will be more than enough, just put this on and fight to your heart's content," Leonardo didn't mind her doubts and tossed over a black mask that morphed and twisted like an irregular streak of light.
Emily was suspicious and didn't touch the thing.
Leonardo gave her a calm look that didn't take no for an answer, merely explaining, "This has a trace of my innate martial intent, just imbue it to your mask and trigger it for a momentary boost during the fight."
"You're letting me in on your martial intent— wait… you have an innate martial intent?!" Emily was shocked to know this fact, as an innate martial intent signified a noble bloodline. She was absolutely certain that there was no such bloodline in the lower realms of a stellar world; the possibility was below negative.
This is both a clue and confirmation that Leonardo's origins didn't come from the stellar world, let alone the lower realms of that world. Her thoughts shifted quickly and curiosity gnawed at her heart.
After some consideration, she attached the streak of light on her mask as it transformed into runic scripts in the ancient infernal tongue, looking like intricate inscriptions so profound that even Emily failed to comprehend them.
"What's the duration of this boost?"
She suddenly asked curiously, as it was unheard of for someone to willingly transfer a comprehension of martial intent to someone else. She didn't know that ever since Leonardo's split soul joined with his main soul, sharing a martial intent was the least of his abilities.
Leonardo thought for a bit and responded in a flat tone, full of confidence, "A few seconds shouldn't be a problem, it's plenty of time for you to finish off the fight too."
