Chapter 104 Too Tender

With one step, Leonardo's body split into two phantoms. Then, one of the phantoms disappeared, and Leonardo's figure solidified a few miles away.

That Leonardo then split into three, and two of them disappeared after crossing a few miles in separate directions, leaving only one who crossed double the distance with the second step.

That Leonardo then split into four, then five, then six, then seven…

This was the sight that greeted the party of two women and one young man the moment they appeared in the region of absolute mayhem.

Lightning descended in droves, attempting to strike a lone white silhouette that weaved through the countless threads of finger-sized lightning bolts that exploded upon contact with the ground. Only when they arrived did they notice that Leonardo wasn't actually advancing in their direction, but the sphere of his activities kept expanding and shrinking within the same region, giving them a false impression.

They watched as he split multiple times from one to two, to three, and it went on until he split into twelve lifelike afterimages with his near-instantaneous movement technique.

Even Leonardo himself was surprised by how smoothly he progressed with cultivating this movement technique. Unbeknownst to Leonardo, within the depths of his sea of consciousness, the soul pearl was softly pulsating above the calm black sea as ripples of faint light spread through his sea of consciousness.

But of course, he wouldn't be aware of this because ever since the trial of the heart, he couldn't inspect his own sea of consciousness at will. In fact, even though he was aware of his sea of consciousness and its peculiarities, whenever he tried to sink into it, a towering black gate would block his attempts.

Although he could touch upon the power of his spiritual strength through the gaps in the gate, going past it was absolutely impossible for him with his current level of power. The ripples from the soul pearl brought unimaginable clarity to Leonardo's state of mind, allowing him to smoothly circulate his energy per the requirements set for the movement technique, and his consecutively advanced from the first change to the twelve changes of the moon in his movement technique.

However, when his desolation essence was about to charge past the changes of the moon and start the six solar changes of the sun, Leonardo would forcibly suppress it.

Leonardo had long since made preparations to integrate his bloodthirsty martial intent into the form of the sun and its six solar changes, hence he couldn't allow his desolation essence to passively nourish that form as it did with the first stage of his cultivation technique.

This was precisely why Leonardo needed a massive influx of energy to support his advancement to the second cycle of sainthood because he planned to forcibly integrate the bloodthirsty martial intent that is notorious for its high incompatibility with magical techniques into a high-tier cultivation technique like the Fourth Dimensions Immortal Scripture.

His plan was simple, condensing every bit of his bloodthirsty martial intent into his bloodthirsty armament before thrusting it into the illusory moon of the four dimensions, allowing his desolation essence to erode and transfer the volumes of bloodthirsty martial intent along the circulation path into the illusory image of the sun.

To accomplish that, an incredible amount of worldly energy to support his advancement is necessary.

Just as Leonardo was musing over these thoughts, he noticed three figures in the distance watching him weave a path through the region of thunderstorms.

"People?" A spark of surprise flashed through Leonardo's eyes. Then, with a step, he disappeared into the folds of lightning and appeared in front of the group.

However, he couldn't stay still lest the lightning struck his body, so he continued to flash past and around them, trapping them in a sea of afterimages as his voice echoed from all directions.

"Hey! How come you guys aren't being attacked by the storm?! Also, are you guys natives?!"

Leonardo could only shout to overwhelm the constant rumbling in the background.

The three of them were dumbstruck by what they heard and witnessed, it couldn't be that this kid is so clueless about the laws in this region, right?

The man tried to pinpoint which of the afterimages was the actual Leonardo, but he almost immediately felt dizzy and began to spin in his place, his eyes swirling in bewilderment.

It was the woman who approached first that shouted in a crisp and loud voice that drowned the raging thunder, "It is attracted by your worldly energy!"

Her voice was powerful, eclipsing the thunderforce and striking Leonardo's body like a hammer, as though it was a tangible sound barrier that pressed against him. That took him by surprise, almost throwing his movement technique into disorder, greatly shocking him.

This was a pure sound wave void of any energy whatsoever, yet it was already this powerful.

Leonardo's eyes sharpened as he carefully studied this group of three. They were completely void of any worldly energy fluctuations, but their physical bodies emitted such a heavy pressure.

Did they take their physical bodies to lengths unknown to man without relying on the accumulation of worldly energy? How on earth did they cultivate then?

Leonardo was deeply shaken.

If he were to retract the protection of his worldly energy, his skin would be blasted open by any random shockwave from these raging lightning bolts, let alone being struck directly. Furthermore, even if he withdrew the energy o his cells, the energy would still be sensed nonetheless.

If he wanted to keep his energies to a minimum, then crossing this region is practically begging to die. If he didn't, then that would simply be some effort of prolonging his time before death.

Although he had an idea of how to completely seal his cultivation, he might end up dead right then and there due to some stray shockwaves.

The woman seemed to notice Leonardo's predicament and felt curious, did he have a way to conceal the presence of his energy from the world?

Well, Leonardo surely did have a way, which was to retract his energy, not into his cells, but into the soul pearl in his sea of consciousness. The sea of consciousness is a separate ephemeral space said to exist on the borderline between the physical and ethereal dimensions, with the souls of intelligent creatures as a medium between the two.

Thus, if Leonardo were to retract his energy there, it would technically be stored in a different world, a separate dimension, far from being sensed by the energies of this place.

"If you can conceal your energy from being sensed, I'll protect you!" The woman shouted as anticipation welled up in her eyes. Her two companions looked at her oddly, how is it possible for that to even happen?

Their tribes attempted thousands of times across thousands of years to no avail, what made her think that this stranger in white could do it?

Is she trying to have him killed? His body is so thin, and his skin is too white, it was obvious he didn't go through any tempering. If struck while his energy was at a minimum low, he would instantly die if not lie there half crippled.

Hearing her words, Leonardo's eyes glowed as he seemed to understand her thoughts just as she saw through his.

Without hesitation, he smiled and stopped at the peak of a nearby high hill. Then, his aura instantly vanished from existence as though he was but the weakest of non-cultivators. However, that wasn't surprising because even their elders had ways to conceal their cultivation from the senses of other people, the question was whether or not it could be concealed from the will in this region.

In front of everyone's eyes, Leonardo's body was shredded to pieces by a bolt of lightning. However, that was one of the afterimages in the air, not his true body.

Then, all of his afterimages were shredded apart, leaving only one stray bolt of lightning that was supposed to strike the original Leonardo. That bolt descended in Leonardo's direction almost immediately.

However, it seemingly deviated, striking a hill nearby to Leonardo, shocking the party of three. During their moment of shock, a wave of energy swept toward Leonardo at an incredible pace, but Leonardo simply crossed his arms to his chest and watched the ripple advance through the air toward him.

Just as the ripple was about to strike, a heavy saber struck into the ground like a massive pillar, and a tall woman stood in front of Leonardo.

Her wild and muscular frame exuded a sense of pressure that blocked the sweeping shockwave as though it was but a breeze of spring wind.

The woman then turned around. She was a bit taller than Leonardo at six feet and a few inches tall. Her eyes were pitch-black with a hint of curiosity as she looked Leonardo up and down, from head to toe.

Then, she extended a finger and poked his cheek lightly. However, shockingly, his skin split open and blood began to seep out, startling the woman into retracting her finger.

"Little brother, you're too tender!" She exclaimed in shock.

Leonardo's expression was amazing to look at, his flat smile growing stiff.