Immortal Kingdoms

Chapter 247 Stirring Trouble

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Explosions riddled the uncharted wilderness as Leonardo's spiritual sense envelops the area, locking down on the positions of flying ships, carriages, and cultivators from different sects while they actively roamed the area. 

Most of them were in the 4th-tier, and very few 5th-tier cultivators spread in a net all around the area to keep the disciples safe from harm and report back during instances of danger. 

As the heavy aura of a 6th-tier powerhouse descended upon them, they immediately paled. 

Distress signals were immediately sent back to their respective sects, while they gritted their teeth and decided to take it upon themselves to buy time. 

"All disciples evacuate back to the sect! Immediately!" 

"Quick! We're under attack!" 

Even as they spoke, something horrifying took place. 

Leonardo paused in the center area of all the disciples, his white hair flapping gently with both hands clasped behind his back. 

He didn't even need his mask anymore, not that it proved helpful to begin with. Thus, he removed the mask as it dissolved back into desolate essence energy that rushed into Leonardo's body. 

"Aren't you guys looking for my woman to lure me out? Well, here I am…" 

Leonardo's cold, disembodied voice pushed the chaotic ether away as it weighed heavily on the ears of hundreds of disciples even as they scrambled about. 

"Don't you dare!" 

A furious shout reached Leonardo from the four directions as the auras of 5th-tier cultivators hurtled in his direction. Not caring one bit about it, Leonardo stomped the air with his lightning-wreathed foot as the heavenly retribution thunderforce domain unfolded, washing the world in black streaks of erratic lightning. 

Rumble! The carriages, flying ships, and disciples were as fragile as paper when confronted with Leonardo's domain. This was outright bullying, and the sect elders in the distance knew that they couldn't save their disciples who were too close to Leonardo's domain. 

In but a few seconds, this region of the uncharted wilderness was no different from a forbidden land of sure death. A few seconds may seem too little of a time, but it really was so. 

Boom! 

Air exploded as four 5th-tier sect elders anchored down Leonardo's four directions. Their faces were fuming with anger, and around this time, Sierra finally caught up and stood high above the battlefield. 

Her expression immediately went dark as she surveyed the area of mass destruction— the surface area wasn't any different from the overall surface area of her sector's outer regions. That is to say, if Leonardo wanted to, millions of her family's private troops would be no more than dust, all within seconds. 

This was the frightening power of elemental-oriented martial intent and domains, especially fire and lightning. However, not many can take these rudimentary elements to the heights of natural laws. 

Not due to their complexity but the opposite— they were too simple. In fact, they were so simple it proved almost impossible to figure out the profundities related to laws within them. 

Mastery over one element to the degree of law means comprehending its relationship with the other elements of nature, how they interact and influence one another, and how they coexist in a perpetual cycle of destruction and construction— these things seem simple. 

Obviously, fire evaporates water. Just as so, water extinguishes fire. However, that doesn't mean that each element has eliminated the other. 

More accurately, each element would push its counterpart toward evolution and change. Scientists derived this as a law; one can never destroy energy, albeit they could in some ways influence it to change its structure. 

This change in structure is the so-called profoundness of the five elements, a criterion to elevate the martial intent into the realm of rebirth. 

However, who out there would claim to have mastery over two or more elements? Let alone the five elements, people struggle to balance cultivating anything remotely related to one another, let alone a bundle of martial intents of conflicting nature. 

Truly, profundity lay in simplicity. 

If Sierra knew that Leonardo brought his sub-dimension to the perfection of laws by gathering the natural laws and elements to a balance while achieving rebirth, one can imagine the shock. 

The four sect elders also noticed Sierra's arrival as she had done little to conceal her actions, bringing shock, fear, and anger to the four of them. 

Stalling a 6th-tier was already difficult enough, let alone when a 7th-tier was dispatched on the field. 

Even as she was about to speak, her communication bracelet flashed urgently, blinking furiously. 

Irritated, she glanced into the contents of the urgent message and her expression changed, her aura growing cold. She only had two 5th-tier deputy generals under her, a 6th-tier general, and the rest of the cultivators were lieutenants responsible for various divisions in the army. 

Emily left the official positions of her army to normal cultivators below the 5th-rank while keeping those of high power closer to her as military advisors. In her opinion, higher realms equate to higher brain capacity and when this potential was excavated to the limits, the rewards would prove much greater than having one or two extra fighters. 

Sierra thought differently, though. 

The high-end combat power functions as both a motivation and a deterrent, but she had just received news of a subordinate's death in the heat of the battle. Things were quickly escalating out of control in the core region— she didn't have the time to waste on saving these idiots. 

"Your Eminence! What is the meaning of this?! Our sects and your sector are supposed to be allies!" 

Since Sierra didn't strike immediately, the four elders thought it might be because she wasn't here to help Leonardo but the opposite. Thinking about it, she was someone from the Jin Dynasty, after all, it only made sense she would strike Leonardo where he stood. 

"Idiots," Leonardo shot at the elder with a pitying gaze. "I would hurry to evacuate from this location if I were you— your sects won't survive the incoming storm." 

Leonardo's appearance would surely draw the imperial family's attention to this region, and the secret dealings between House Freya, House Xia, and House Levi with the hidden sects would sooner than later come to light. 

The tax revenue belongs to the imperial family, and no matter how corrupt the system was in blocking the information from reaching the capital due to the far distance, things were about to change. 

Leonardo had somehow managed to come out from the core region of the Levi Sector in broad daylight, striking at the cultivators from the hidden sects. 

Meanwhile, the cultivators from the hidden sects had somehow erupted into open conflict in the heart of a military base. Although a private base, it was built on the soil of the Jin Dynasty. 

The Jin Dynasty might hold back and tolerate Memento Mori, but it wouldn't allow any random Tom, Dick, and Harry to step on its toes. 

Of course, the anxious elders had no idea about any of this. At least, Sierra who had a full picture of the situation could come up to a few conclusions much faster than them. With a pale face, she ignored the imploring gazes of the four elders and rushed back to her sector; a house cleansing was imminent. 

"Your Eminence!" 

"Commanding General!" 

"Oh please, stop wasting your breath…" Leonardo waved a hand that caused the area to shudder as his four domains superimposed to lock down the region. 

The four immediately felt as though invisible chains bound their limbs and energy in place. Even though they were technically weaker than Leonardo who was in the 6th-tier, this disparity in power was frightening nonetheless. 

What the hell?! The elders were shocked witless. 

Leonardo could even break free from the domain of a 7th-tier powerhouse, let alone capture weaklings nurtured in the hidden sects with imperfect foundations and lacking techniques. 

If the hidden sects had any valuable inheritance, the Eight Mountains would have been the first force on the move to 'collect' these inheritances. 

"Our High Elders are on the move! Don't do anything reckless, Leonardo! Do you really want to fight against us to the bitter end?!" 

Leonardo was amused, shaking his head. "Your High Elders are 6th-tier cultivators at most, do you really think I'm scared of them?" 

The four were speechless and felt like shouting something along the lines of: 'You're a 6th-tire at best, too!' 

However, they held their anger in and didn't refute it. 

Any second gained is a chance at living. If the High Elders of their four hidden sects joined forces, they could superimpose their four domains and counterbalance Leonardo's ridiculous domain. 

These elders never heard of anyone who brought four martial intents into the rebirth realm; this was borderline insane. Thus, they understood that Leonardo wasn't someone they could mess around with. 

"Oh? You, little guys, are buying time… I would love to oblige with your games but… Sigh, I'm a busy man." 

Leonardo didn't care if four elders superimposed their domains to lock him down as he was pretty confident he could escape due to how 'special' his martial intent, desolation, was. 

Even as he spoke, a pitch-black halberd riddled with crimson and white inscriptions appeared in his right hand. Its three meters length dwarfed Leonardo's figure while black lightning crackled furiously along its crescent blades. 

The four elders immediately went pale while sweating hard.