Immortal Kingdoms

Leona's tinkling laughter echoed from within lush leaves and in tandem with running streams, the chirping of birds, and the sounds of splashing water as she played on the surface of a shallow, artificial river.

She was running circles around an aesthetically pleasing high rockery, colorful avians quick on her heels with a few adorable exotic animals watching curiously from the side.

Even further away was the rest of the group.

Kieran couldn't use his martial intent passively like Leona, resulting in a significant drop in quality and efficiency in his craftsmanship of wooden figures. However, that didn't stop him from committing to his now solid hobby of his, even if it was a matter as simple as passing time.

He sat in the shadow of a random tree, Aria laying lazily on top of his head.

In another corner of this garden that might as well be an inspiration ofEden, three beauties of conflicting temperaments yet with a sense of peculiar harmony among them stood at the foot of a waterfall.

Juvia and Pandora were talking about their experiences with Leonardo ever since they stepped foot on this planet.

Juvia knew that were she to have encountered the Leonardo of this current mindset back then, let alone set her free, she might not have had the chance to even wake up after ingesting that poison.

Many things have changed sin back then, and her mentality was no exception. As she spoke, she couldn't shake off the sense of loss and sadness in her tone.

Pandora also understood those feelings because she knew that their presence next to Leonardo, no matter how significant of a role they're playing now, that's only a role comparatively speaking in the middle realms, but it wouldn't be the same in the higher realms.

Wendy was also intrigued to learn about these little gossips, and she didn't hold back when talking about her experiences either, but she kept some parts hidden, some ambiguous, and some parts she deliberately altered slightly.

Even so, the conversation between the trio flowed like clear river waters that although didn't necessarily flow down the same mountain, they also didn't hinder one another from reaching the ocean below.

Comparing themselves to rivers and Leonardo to the ocean in the distance, both Pandora and Juvia knew deep down that they were shallow rivers when facing the deep, seemingly bottomless wide river that was Wendy.

They tacitly put aside their petty struggles from their first day as followers and put up the attitude of seniors, guiding Leonardo's student with their status as his proud women who accompanied him for every step of the way.

"Excuse me," as the three were happily getting along, a cute maid stepped forward nervously as she bowed, "Esteemed Guest Leonardo is currently discussing business with our board of directors, and he invites lady Juvia to attend the meeting as well."

Juvia was confused for like two seconds before she broke out into a brilliant smile that dazzled the cute maid. As for Juvia, she almost forgot her status as Leonardo's half-student.

If not in the matters of cultivation, then at the very least, in business.

'Now I see why you left me buried in mountains of paperwork while that little girl Pandora was simply running around!' Thinking back on it, Juvia almost blushed with shame.

She knew if their roles were reversed, keeping Pandora in the palace with her running around to assassinate key diplomats and troublemakers in the shadows, things wouldn't progress so smoothly.

This also shows that no matter how wide or deep some rivers are, sometimes, it is precisely the shallow rivers that get the job done beautifully. Thus, with a refreshed mood, she winked at Pandora before having the maid lead the way.

"Why certainly, let us not keep them waiting!"

…

In an enclosed hall that Leonardo entered earlier, he was surprised to see a long rectangular table situated horizontally at the end of the room, seven figures both young and old greeted him.

What surprised him was that two of them were elves, two of them were beastkin, and two were humans, all of them split into a pair of male and female, and Leonardo could even sense some ambiguity in their eyes as they exchanged glances with their counterpart of the same race.

As for the seventh, that was precisely Ingrid who sat directly in the middle, her seat a degree higher in terms of alleviation and structure, and she was the third human among the members of the board of directors.

Leonardo's pupils constricted the moment he entered the hall as he could sense a prickling sensation in his spirit when looking these people in the eyes, even though they seemed like your ordinary humble pedestrians from a first glance impression.

There was nothing to be said about the elves and humans in terms of aesthetical representation, but the beastkin seemed like two wild wolves dressed up as humans.

Long fluffy ears, clear white fangs protruding from their perpetually smiling expressions, golden slitted pupils, thick spiky hair like the mane of a lion, and powerful dark grey tails swaying rhythmically.

Both of them looked extremely young, and no amount of poise or grace could conceal their sharp and feral auras that were like a silent black sea on a moonless night.

The woman was intently yet curiously observing Leonardo, as despite not sensing a lick of cultivation in this youth, her sense of danger kept buzzing off in her head the longer she peered down into his lifeless black eyes.

"Ara~ what business does this handsome little brother have with my Tesla's? I wonder~…"

She covered her sparkling white fangs with her fair hand, only to expose her sharp claws that were almost two inches long.

Leonardo could even perceive them to have cut through the air, scraping against the fabric of space, from this subtle movement.

'Definitely a display of power,' Leonardo thought to himself inwardly. 'They're clearly misunderstanding my intentions, are they apprehensive about my background?'

Leonardo creased his eyebrows lightly, but he didn't feel any ill feelings against Ingrid for taking a neutral stance, not supporting or denouncing him, as he didn't wish for their lord-and-servant relationship to be public just yet.

As far as these six were concerned, Leonardo caught the eye of their Chairman Tesla, and to give him face, she allowed a meeting with their group of six despite their already jam-packed schedules.

Of course, they were thinking something along the lines of giving face to the factions behind Leonardo, and not Leonardo himself.

"I see how it is, it seems like your intelligence agency is only so-so after all," Leonardo sighed, almost dramatically as he found himself a chair to sit on. Then, he rested the ankle of his right foot over his left knee, elbow on the armrest, and cheek on his leisurely reclined fist.

Indgid's eyes sparkled with interest, but she didn't speak much.

It goes without saying that their intelligence agencies have branches across the three dynasties; Human, Elven, and Beastkin.

For Leonardo's first remark to directly target this intelligence network was quite the pill to swallow. However, the beastkin female didn't particularly feel insulted as her race was straightforward and didn't bother with these mind games, while the elves were reserved, leaving only the humans with inflated pride about their intelligence with a bit of distaste in their mouths.

The old man seated to Ingrid's right snorted lightly, a bit of displeasure in his powerful snort, but he didn't bother to quibble with Leonardo over some trivial provocation.

It was at this moment that Juvia finally entered the room, drawing everyone's attention to her defined features, black and white color scheme secretary outfit, the clipboard in her hands, and a pair of clear rectangle glasses on the bridge of her nose.

"My apologies, I've kept you all waiting," her sweet voice diffused in the hall as smoothly as her entrance, bow of respect, and enchanting smile of unwavering confidence.