Chapter 194 Return

Later that day, Junior Brother escorted Leonardo, Maiden 001, and Zaylee to the teleportation hall on the border of the provincial protective formation.

Junior Brother gave Leonardo some constructive pointers in regards to cultivation as a divinity.

Although this realm only had 20 levels, each of these levels was very crucial for the future construction of a star core.

"I will be going to visit a few more hidden sects. In the meantime, don't rush with completing four-star missions as your rate of promotion is already alarming fast, you'll easily draw the displeasure of the higher ranking officials this way." Junior Brother reminded Leonardo in front of the teleportation hall.

He added, "When it comes to your sub-dimension, make sure you don't reveal the position of the spatial node to anyone else. If they found it and destroyed the node, or worse, completely destroyed the sub-dimension; you can say goodbye to your future cultivation path."

"No worries, I wouldn't be that careless," Leonardo assured Junior Brother with a faint smile. In fact, he knew more than anyone else how crucial it was to maintain the position of that particular sub-dimension a secret.

Furthermore, he didn't have time to bother with the promotions because after achieving divinity, he could sense an ethereal connection with Ingrid, but he was positive that this sensation was only on his part and she wouldn't be able to sense him.

He could also guess that the only reason he could sense her position was her presence in the same space as himself. In a sense, if either of them were to enter a sub-dimension, from such a vast distance, he wouldn't be able to feel her position.

Leonardo's plan was to visit the vampire clan and help Rosaline achieve rebirth before roaming the Core Mainland to find Ingrid and Nier.

Thinking about that woman, a complicated light flashed in Leonardo's eyes as he sighed, inadvertently thinking about his mother, Aria, Leona, and Kieran.

Just where would he find them now?

"Are you okay?" Junior Brother's voice sounded next to Leonardo's ear, alarming him awake.

"Oh— yeah… I'm fine, just lost in thoughts."

Leonardo awkwardly chuckled before patting Junior Brother's shoulder as though he was genuinely communicating with a younger child. "Make sure to keep safe, alright?"

A vein on Junior Brother forehead's throbbed, wanting to slap Leonardo dead with one palm. However, he calmed himself down and stepped out, disappearing.

As for Leonardo, he maintained that posture of patting someone's shoulder even a moment after Junior Brother left. Clearly, his mind was still occupied with something else entirely.

"Ahem, master…" Maiden 001 spoke up with an unnatural expression.

Zaylee to the side was struggling to keep in her laughter.

"Oh yeah," Leonardo quickly gathered his thoughts after a light cough. Then, he waved his hand and tossed out the Law Essence Fragment of the natural treasure to the Maiden. "You can refin this in your sub-dimension, it's useless to me. This natural treasure refined countless laws, it should be enough to achieve rebirth in the future, but I can't tell how far in the rebirth realm you will go."

Maiden 001 was ecstatic, quickly forgetting the awkwardness from earlier.

"Thank you master!" She quickly stored the treasure away.

His attention soon shifted to Zaylee, "I will handle some matters in the Greenheart City, then we can pay your vampire clan a visit. I think I can help, but I'll have to ask for some raw ether fragments in exchange… Preferably pure ether fragments."

"As long as you can help, payment is no problem at all!" Zaylee quickly said, excitement bubbling in her eyes.

She was positive that her vampire clan didn't lack any raw or pure ether fragments that had been accumulated over the countless years of isolation. If all Leonardo required in exchange for cleansing the blood essence pools was some ether fragments, she could most certainly convince the clan lord.

After getting his thoughts together, Leonardo entered the teleportation hall together with Maiden 001 and Zaylee.

…

Greenheart City, 7th District, the Shi Manor.

In the ground floor's dining hall of the main building, Merlin and Elizabeth sat on a long dining table.

The butler and Maiden 002 stood by the door, while the remaining maidens were nowhere to be seen, at least not in this room.

The room was awfully silent with both women seated by the table though they weren't eating. Actually, Elizabeth had her eyes closed while muttering a few incomprehensible chants while Merlin played around with the cutlery.

Suddenly, the communication bracelet on Merlin's hand flashed, Leonardo's voice echoing in her head a moment later.

The bracelet on Maiden 002's hand flashed as well, a message from Maiden 001 sounding in her head as well.

They both received word that Leonardo was waiting outside the main gate to the manor, thus they hurriedly stood up to go outside and welcome him back.

"How come no one is outside?" Leonardo waited by the front gate to the manor, a little confused.

If he remembered correctly, there should have been a staff of servants and the eleven maids left behind, not to mention Merlin and Elizabeth, yet there wasn't a soul in sight.

Maiden 002 was confused as well, furrowing her brows, "Something might have happened, we can only wait and see what happens…"

As they spoke, the figure of Maiden 002 blurred into existence in front of their party, the heavy iron gates creaking open to allow Leonardo and company entry.

"What happened?"

Leonardo inquired with a tilt of his head while making his way inside, feeling that something was off.

"Shopkeeper!" Maiden 002 was about to respond, but Merlin's voice called out from the distance.

Leonardo looked over at the pair of hazel eyes and large round glasses on a young yet serious face. Her long lab coat flung behind in the air as she rushed forward, hands tucked away in the pockets of her robes.

Merlin arrived in front of Leonardo, poking at his chest with her finger while complaining, "We ran out of research funds! Furthermore, no ons is coming to buy from our shop anymore! Did you make trouble with anyone before leaving? It almost feels like we-…"

"Okay okay!" Leonardo waved his hand to cut her off, kneading his forehead with the other hand while looking down the main street. From the distance, a lavish white carriage was quickly approaching.

In no time at all, it parked in front of the Shi Manor.

A butler in white servant uniform and a middle-aged man quickly descended from the carriage, though their movements didn't seem hurried at all.

This face was all too familiar to Leonardo as he was that boss Ray who attempted the hostile takeover to acquire the old man's shop in the Runic Inscriptions Association building on Vast Sky Avenue.

"Oh my, you're even quicker than my house's servants to greet me… Aren't you a bit too enthusiastic?" Leonardo raised an eyebrow as he looked at his boss Ray from head to toe.

"Raymond is fine," the middle-aged man fished out a cigar from the pocket of his black tuxedo, lit it up, and heaved in a heavy drag with his eyes narrowed.

Leonardo stared blankly for a moment before cracki up in a chime of laughter, which seemed all too unnatural in the eyes of Zaylee and Maiden 001.

He can also laugh?

The two stared in wonder.

After achieving divinity, something about him seemed to change, and drastically at that.

They didn't know that while stagnant in the bleak space, Leonardo had the chance to think through on many things. These thoughts are the main drive behind the change in his mindset.