430 Laying Out The Cards

"Err…"

Leon was speechless for a moment before he said, "Never mind that. What do you think of this medicine? Do you wish to purchase it?" 

Chief Valencia carefully studied Leon's expression for a moment, as if trying to gauge his secrets. Unfortunately, she was unable to discover anything unless Leon was willing to explain.

"I doubt you brought this medicine out just to sell it for some Dark Crystals. What is it that you want in exchange—?"

"Chief, the team is ready to set out for the expedition! We are just waiting for you, chief!" A warrior reported clearly upon arrival.

Chief Valencia furrowed her brows slightly before she said, "Let us continue to talk along the way."

"Alright. Let me go call Darlene."

Leon nodded.

Shortly after, he returned to Darlene's side, who was still cultivating with deep focus. Seeing her like this, Leon did not interrupt her immediately.

He watched the spatial elements gather towards her at a consistent rate, neither fast nor too slow. While the gathering speed was steady, the refining speed was on a whole different level.

After entering Darlene's body, it was like the spatial elements were pulled into a region of strong gravitational force. It revolved through the circulation route at an accelerated rate before rushing into the Spatial Seed.

'This is should be part of the benefits of having the Void Soul Constitution…' Leon pondered silently.

The body was like a bottomless rift that swallowed everything without changes. The gathering speed was simply unable to keep up with the refining speed for Darlene to cultivate effectively. 

'She could be cultivating much faster.' Leon concluded.

He briefly turned to Chief Valencia and said, "You won't mind waiting a bit, will you?"

"Not at all. The others can wait." Chief Valencia responded nonchalantly.

Even if the other warriors waiting on them were not happy, they could continue waiting for all she cares. She was much more interested in what Leonhardt was planning to do.

"Thanks." 

Leon quickly took off and flew into the sky above Darlene. 

The rocky plateau was already roughly 200ft high. However, Leon flew higher than 300ft above the plateau and still failed to sense the sky's suppressive force. 

He knew that the sky's suppressive force in the Dark Continent was much weaker, but he did not know to what extent. 

He thought it had something to do with the crack in the sky in the Land of Darkness, but it was actually due to the encompassing dark clouds covering the sky that lifted the suppressive force like the World Tree's cover, perhaps?

Leon spread out his senses and began gathering the spatial elements towards him with Divine Will. He used his strong mental strength to gather them like a tempest. 

However, he did not absorb them for himself but funnel them straight down to Darlene below him.

While Darlene was in the middle of her cultivation, her mental state was very serene, like she was a leaf floating on a body of water without any ripples—When suddenly, a torrential amount of spatial elements rained down on her.

Her body crazily devoured the spatial elements and transformed them into Spatial Energy before being similarly consumed by the Spatial Seed and stored.

Darlene's cultivation rose quickly and nearly broke through to 3-Stars Ranked Awakener Realm in a single leap. However, the burst only lasted a moment before losing all its momentum.

She opened her eyes shortly after with a sigh of disappointment. After a moment, she recovered and began to look around with confusion, wondering where the burst of spatial elements came from.

Leon slowly descended in front of her, causing her to be mildly surprised before she got up and approached him.

"Hubby, did you do something just now?" Darlene asked with doubts and uncertainty.

Leon quickly admitted with a smile, "That's right. Did you like the gift?"

Darlene quickly nodded.

She wanted to continue asking further about it, but Leon suddenly patted her butt and said, "Alright, put on the Enchanted Equipment I bought you. We are heading outside the tribe with Chief Valencia and some other warriors. Let's not keep them waiting."

"Where are we going?" She asked with surprise. She was taken aback and caught off guard by the sudden news.

Nevertheless, she still did as she was told and took out the Tier 2 Enchant Equipment from her Interspatial Pouch and equipped it over her current clothes.

"The Black Swamp. We are joining Chief Valencia on her expedition. However, we will also be parting from the group midway. I will be taking the Teleportation Array to return to my homeland. You will soon learn about who I truly am—that is unless you do not wish to follow me and stay back in the tribe."

When Leon finished saying this, Darlene quickly shook her vigorously and said resolutely, "No! Wherever you go, I want to go with you! I want to know more about you!"

"Then, we are all good then." 

"Are we done now?" Said Chief Valencia after choosing an appropriate timing to walk over and ask them.

Leon nodded.

"Great! Let us head off!" 

Shortly after, Leon and Darlene followed Chief Valencia to meet up with the rest of the expedition group waiting outside the tribe's southern entrance.

There were a few senior warriors in their 70's at the Early-rank Battle Master Realm, among dozens of middle-aged warriors in the Great Warrior Realm. No one was below Great Warrior Realm within the group.

After meeting this group, Darlene spotted someone and went silent. Considering she was speaking, to begin with, Leon did not notice her change.

Chief Valencia glanced at the group and studied everyone's preparation. They were all geared and ready to set off at any time. 

After a moment, she nodded and thundered, "Let us set off!"

"Yes, chief!"

Everyone shouted in unison. They grabbed their Soul Weapons and double-checked their Interspatial Pouches before chasing after Chief Valencia, who took the lead to rush ahead.

The pace was not too fast, but it was not slow either. The Great Warriors were able to keep up with this speed, but Darlene was unable to. She was carried on Leon's back as he ran alongside the chief.

Chief Valencia glanced to her side and said with consideration, "Feel free to let me know if you get tired or if I am moving too quickly. We can stop for breaks."

"No need. This is nothing. You do not need to worry about me. I will be able to keep up." Leon said casually, not breaking a sweat while carrying Darlene on his back.

Chief Valencia smiled and did not comment.

She thought Leon was just trying to act tough in front of his women. He would have to cave in and request for a break at some point. 

"About what we were discussing earlier…" Chief Valencia began bringing up the topic of Leon's medicine.

"The Infertile Plains lack the proper environment to grow precious herbs and medicine. However, the same cannot be said for the Human Domain. I am willing to supply the Darkmoon Tribe with a large number of precious herbs and medicine. Also, water can be resolved if we set up a proper channel is set up. What does Aunty Valencia think of entering a long-term trade and alliance with the Crawford Kingdom?"

Chief Valencia's eyes flickered for a moment before she furrowed her brows in deep thoughts. What Leon said was very lucrative, but she could not agree so quickly until she figures out how this would benefit Leonhardt's side.

There was no such thing as a free lunch in the world.

"You mentioned some tempting offers, but what would the Crawford Kingdom gain out of this deal? What can the Darkmoon Tribe possibly offer you in return? Don't tell me that this is all for just the runic mining technology?" Chief Valencia asked.

"Well, there's that. The runic mining technology will greatly help the kingdom develop and all, but more importantly, we want your friendship. With the Human Domain occupying only one corner of the Desolate Continent, humanity's fate does not look too bright. This is especially so when humans are fighting amongst ourselves. Having one more friend is better than one more enemy, don't you think?"

"One more friend is better than one more enemy. Hahaha! Little Nephew Leonhardt speaks some wise words! Let us continue to discuss in detail." Chief Valencia said light-heartedly.

In truth, when the matter of Celestial Water Spark drying up, she did think about invading the prosperous lands of the Human Domain. 

Nevertheless, she did have her misgivings towards an unknown land filled with people practicing a different type of cultivation system. 

However, if a stable supply of water can really be established between their two sides, that would be for the best. 

She was much more interested in the Wildlands than the Human Domain itself. After all, the Darkmoon Tribe was full of meat lovers who also enjoy the thrill of the hunt. 

While Leon and Chief Valencia were discussing, the Great Warriors and Battle Masters following in the back were utterly lost due to being ill-informed.

Darlene remained silent throughout the journey as she hugged Leon's neck and buried her head.

At this point, Leon finally felt something off. He figured that Darlene would be curiously asking him questions by now, but that was not the case.

"What's wrong, Darlene? You're awfully quiet."

At the same time, an Extremity-rank Great Warrior in his 60's turned his head in surprise and asked, "Did you say, Darlene?"

"Darlene? Is that you?" The Extremity-rank Great Warrior continued to ask after his eyes fell on the person being carried by Leon.

Darlene hugged Leon's neck more firmly when she heard all this, causing Leon to be more surprised. Why did she seem so frail?