Immortal Kingdoms

Azalea and the other representatives, including her boss, stared in silence.

Luckily, they forwarded Leonardo's case to be the first agenda for the meeting, otherwise this unforeseen development might have ruined their plans altogether. They would simply bide their time and negotiate about their fair cut of leases and investments after this whole circus show ended.

Mason and Andrew glared at one another, then they glared at Jeffery, then they each snatched a piece of paper from Pandora before returning to their seats to silently list down a tempting offer. Lastly, Jeffery approached Leonardo with a bitter smile on his fat face before receiving a piece of paper of his own, sighing as he did so.

Leonardo was wholly bewildered about this fat guy's attitude.

Why did it look like he was forced into an unwanted betrothal or something? Leonardo wondered.

"Anyone else?" Leonardo turned around and glanced down at the gathering crowd. However, to his expectations and disappointment, no one moved a muscle. They silently occupied their seats and awaited an outcome, much like the young businessman himself.

Obviously, no one wanted to step on the lion's tail. With a sigh, Leonardo gestured for each of them to start writing down their offers and put them in the box.

While Andrew and Mason contemplated with serious expressions, Jeffery painfully looked at the paper and the fountain pen in his hand before shaking his head in exasperation. Then, he wrote a few lines on the paper before stamping it down with House Sylvia's signature seal, and proceeded to insert the paper into the box.

He did it so swiftly that most people had the misconception that Jeffery wasn't giving the matter some serious thought. Mason and Andrew were also somewhat alert, not knowing how much their fat competitor gave up for the sake of these shares.

Moreover, they hadn't received any orders or clearance to spend wealth or forward lands to someone else for the sake of extra shares. After giving the matter some deep considerations, the pair settled down for their respective offers and inserted their papers.

Since Leonardo wasn't the dramatic guy, but rather the impatient and straightforward type, at least superficially, he quickly fished out the first paper on top.

It was an offer from Andrew, and by extension, House Venus.

Three thousand slaves, a small agricultural town, three villages, and a mansion; all within the comfort of a personal fiefdom the size of a typical barony.

Although the location wasn't mentioned, it did specify that such details could be discussed the moment Leonardo made it within the borders of the kingdom, as there were simply too many territories that met these conditions.

Leonardo nodded lightly and moved to the next offer proposed by Mason, and by extension, House Exodia.

Five thousand armed slaves, two thousand horses, three hundred virgin maidens, a medium sized industrial town, three mansions, and a recognised noble title of earl, also known as count.

The details pertaining to location could be discussed under the same conditions of House Venus.

Leonardo had to admit, if he wasn't already biased towards House Sylvia due to the naivety of their Queen, he would have loved going with House Exodia's offer.

Nonetheless, for the sake of formalities, he figured he might as well go with the motions. He already planned to burn the papers after giving them a glimpse and not leave any evidence behind.

The next moment however, when he read the proposal listed down by Jeffery, Leonardo's hands went rigid and he gaped in shock for a few moments.

He almost couldn't believe his eyes. He had to rub them clear once, twice, and thrice before giving Jeffery a dubious look.

"Are you fucking serious?" Leonardo couldn't help but ask to be sure.

"Are you sane?! Five large towns with private mansion estates, ten thousand armed slaves, and the noble title of a Foreign Prince?! Have you gone mad?!"

Leonardo honestly couldn't believe his eyes, he simply spoke his thoughts out loud for everyone to hear, stunning the crowd.

Jeffery felt defeated as this wasn't his offer, but orders passed down from her highness Queen Adeline. However, would he dare put that for everyone to hear? What would they think of her sanity?

Thus, he had to bite the bullet, grit his teeth, and nod his beet red head.

Seeing this, the contract almost dropped from Leonardo's hand as he kneaded his forehead in exasperation.

"Fucking unbelievable…" He muttered, walking back to his seat without even voicing out his choice. Even a blind idiot could make an intelligent decision given these choices, much less someone like Leonardo who was already biased. However, since it already happened, he wouldn't be humble and simply accept this windfall.

Azalea was staring like a stupid fish at Leonardo this whole time. She couldn't believe this runt just became a Prince in the matter of moments. When she thought that this all happened because she supposedly coerced him back at Tesla's, she felt frustrated.

As for Pandora, she wasn't fazed the least. The status of royalty in a some middle realms planet was dirt in her eyes, and she knew that Leonardo most likely felt the same.

After all, due to their dual cultivation session, she knew that Leonardo's physique was at least a divine rank.

How could one differentiate between the various physiques and their potential talents? That was actually quite simple.

The build of a mortal talent allows the person to cultivate energy embedded into their flesh and blood, limiting their overall capacity and access to varying deposits of energy. As for the physique of a saint, one could simply add the bones and marrow to the equation. Likewise, a divine physique would enable an individual to store energy throughout hundreds if not thousands of meridian channels, or more precisely, the neural system.

Since Pandora had to coordinate her energy cycles with Leonardo's, she could feel his energy delegations through his flesh, blood, bones, and meridians.

The moment she realised that Leonardo's physique was pushed from a mortal all the way to the divine, she understood deeply how much the young lady Nier cared for him, further enhancing her resolve to follow him.

Leonardo didn't participate in the following events of the meeting, and about four hours later in the dead of night, the meeting concluded. The young businessman didn't wait for anyone to congratulate or hinder him as he quickly left the venue with plans in mind.

He truly felt pity for everyone present because he dealt a twofold strike not only to lady Azalea back there in Tesla's, but by extension, to everyone else. Everyone seemed to forget that Tesla's Dine and Shine was a neutral power, and Valdmor wasn't a town under the jurisdiction of humans.

Elves and beastkin must have already bought information regarding the location of the energy ore mine and the corresponding details.

God knows what bloody battles await the seven kingdoms and the three ruling powers once they've eventually arrived at the location in the near future. As for Leonardo, he silently made his way back to the inn where he booked an extra room, instructing Pandora to switch shifts with Juvia and watch over the children while the latter came over for a session of dual cultivation.

After this session, he will finally complete his fourth mortal cycle and enter seclusion to merge his dual martial intents to embark on the path of sainthood.

Although reluctant, Pandora begrudgingly whispered the 'good' news to Juvia, who could barely wait any longer. The female elf responded by quickly leaving the room where Kieran glanced over a book of rudimentary language before refocusing on his efforts to learn reading. As for Leona, she was already deep asleep.

Looking at the two sweethearts, Pandora sighed and went up on the bed beside Kieran, slowly guiding him through the difficult words.