“Master.” Harry said humbly. A neat, immaculately well-dressed gentleman walked in. He was in his mid-thirties, his hair was brown and parted from the middle. He was accompanied by an older gentleman similarly well-dressed in his late forties by Ryu’s estimate.

“This is your guest I presume Leo?” The younger gentleman said as he smiled at Ryu. This guy had the charisma and the air of authority of a leader. Although he looked professional and friendly, something about him made Ryu uneasy. It’s as if he could see through Ryu’s soul.

“Yes sir.” Leonardo replied with a bow.

“I take it that you want him to join our group?” The older gentleman said as he eyed Ryu with curiosity. All of them with the exception of Leonardo looked older than thirty. Ryu however looked like he was just twenty, meaning that his cultivation rate must be extremely fast to maintain his youth.

“No no, he’s just someone I met. We have plenty of time to get to know each other and he can decide if he wants to join us much later.” Leonardo replied with a smile. The two gentlemen nodded and went into a private room, it seemed like they had something urgent to discuss. Jane gave Ryu another look before she entered one of the rooms. Harry glared at Ryu with contempt before he went off to his own room.

“Haha Ryu don’t mind them. Especially Harry… that guy has issues, he’s jealous of anyone that stares at Jane.” Leonardo said. Ryu just nodded. In his mind he was thinking about the person called “master”, he was hiding his aura extremely well but Ryu could sense that he has to be at least level 75, in the mid King Domain. His Qi reservoir was also extremely odd, with his special vision Ryu saw it was bow shaped and contained many colors. However the thing that bothered him the most was the stench of blackness that taints his reservoir, he must have killed countless people.

“Who were the two gentlemen?” Ryu asked curiously.

“They are like our mentors, you don’t need to know. Anyways welcome to my room. Like a saying from my homeland, my house is your house.” Leonardo said as he ushered Ryu into the room. It was fairly spacious, there is a medium sized bed, a sofa, a table, and even a bathroom.

The two chatted for many hours. Obviously this group of people weren’t native to the Heaven Continent. Leonardo won’t discuss the identity of their master or their purpose here. He did reveal that the master was called Mr. R and the older gentleman is called John. Ryu didn’t press on that matter and Ryu asked about Britannica, his homeland. It was then that Leonardo started spilling information like a waterfall.

They discussed a knight’s soul weapon and magic used by mages. Although Ryu had plenty of information before, listening with someone who had witnessed it was still an eye opener. Particularly when Leonardo is the one narrating with so much zest and enthusiasm. Leonardo revealed that his mother was native to the Xu Province and his father was from Britannica. He was born in the land of knight and mages but came here at a very young age. He hopes to visit his homeland in a few centuries.

It was past midnight when there was a knock on Leonardo’s room. It was John calling him out.

“Ryu, you should stay here. This inn is protected by the Xin’s Auction House, I am afraid that those fools from the dumb rock sect might come cause trouble for you.” Leonardo said sincerely. “I’m going out to discuss some sensitive things with my group, they might cast some protective spells as precaution. Don’t worry.” Ryu nodded and promised he’ll stay there to meditate and try to cultivate the lightning fruits he bought.

Ryu could see from the outline of Qi that Mr. R, John, Harry, Jane and Leonardo were meeting in the living room. John came over to the room Ryu is residing in and put a talisman there. Instantly Ryu felt his aura restricted and the sound from outside was also cut off.

Although the restrictive talisman was supposed to block all aura and sound from the room, Ryu could still see through it in his second view where everything is outlined by Qi. The talisman was an enchanted item but it was only a low level enchantment. Ryu had been taught by one of the best so he can easily decipher it. He pressed one hand on the ground and negated its effects to hear their conversation.

“Leo, you know that our mission is quite critical. Why did you bring him over?” John asked.

Leonardo narrated what happened briefly and even showed a recording of the fight with the seed disciples from the Resilient Gaia Sect. Although the point of view of the recording was from a pocket in his chest, to see how Ryu instantly put down a Heaven Domain cultivator that specializes in brute force demonstrated how skillful he is. Then Leonardo talked about what happened in the auction house.

“Hmm what a mysterious youth. He is most likely a lightning user then. Lightning skills do have the power to disrupt Qi flows, increase speed and reaction time and create bursts of power.” Mr. R said.

“He’s a good guy, my gut instincts say so!” Leonardo chipped in proudly.

“He’s going to ruin our plans.” Harry said angrily.

“Chill, you are only angry cause you lost.” Jane laughed.

“Enough.” John said before Harry could refute. “Our plans have been bumped up. We have to move tomorrow morning. I want you guys to put aside your grudges and focus.”

“Is it possible? We don’t have the complete layout of that mansion yet.” Harry said with skepticism.

“We do what we have to do.” Mr. R said firmly as he threw each of them an information crystal. The group went back to their respective room.

Leonardo went back to his room and resumed chatting with Ryu. Although Ryu heard the gist of their conversation, he had no idea what they plan to do. They talked until sunrise and Leonardo collapsed on his bed.

“Ah Ryu, I don’t have your discipline. Meditating instead of sleeping is too much stress. I have to go run an errand together with the group tomorrow, will you be alright?” Leonardo asked with his eyes closed as he tucked himself to sleep.

Ryu told him not to worry about it, the lightning fruits are like generators. As long as Ryu doesn’t absorb too much at once, the fruit could last an eternity. Ryu’s plan is to fuse the two additional colors into his Five-Colored Lightning fruit, making it into a Sovereign Domain energy source. He has no method now but he’ll figure it out later.

Leonardo woke up just before noon and saw Ryu containing the lightning fruit between his hands. All he could do is secretly praise Ryu, it takes a lot of skill to utilize Qi and cultivate at the same time. Ryu’s eyes were closed and his body was as still as a statue. Without a word, Leonardo left his room.

In reality Ryu was very aware of his surroundings. After a few minutes, Ryu left his main body in the room but sent out a few clones to scout. This was one of his specialization, Divide and Conquer. He can have one clone per domain, right now he can generate six but the process of splitting takes a bit of Qi. Qi can be shared between the clones but the farther the clones are to the original body, the slower it can retrieve Qi from the main body. The clones themselves can’t recover Qi or cultivate, only the original body can. Whatever the clones experience, the main body will know right away. The clones can also access the tomes. The main advantage of this technique is something else that’ll Ryu will only use if he’s in life threatening danger.

Ryu decided to stalk the group from a far instead of following them. Something about this Mr. R gave Ryu a bad feeling. Ryu decided to observe from within a tall ancient clock tower. This clock tower oversees the whole city. There was no one in it except an old keeper, Ryu’s clone paid him fifty gold coins to stay and have a look around. Lying flat on the ground, Ryu’s clone made a circle with his right thumb and index finger. Between the fingers he infused Qi inside to create something similar to a telescope. This was a trick he learned from shaman prince Na’Vi.

Ryu had trouble locating Leonardo’s group, they were in the open but so were thousands of other people. It took Ryu a while to locate them but he managed due to the fact Mr. R’s Qi reservoir is in a unique shape of a dark bow. John wasn’t with the group. Each of them somehow had masks on their face that made them look like completely like a different person. Even Ryu can’t tell the difference, it was only due to the fact that he had seen their Qi reservoirs before which is exclusively different in each person.

After a few minutes of walking the group finally arrived at the mansion. To Ryu’s surprise, they walked into a fancy mansion through the front gate. A mansion would be an understatement, it seems to be a small fortress. There was a five meter tall wall all around the property that spanned many kilometers. Guards were placed on the wall every hundred meters. Many parts within were enchanted, usually only sects invite Enchanters over to enhance their bases. Although the mansion itself was only five floors high, there must be over five hundred rooms in it. The garden around the mansion itself was like a small forest, it stretched for about ten kilometers wide! This was the nature of greedy adults, the richer they are the more they love their public image.

It seems like there was a party of some sort going on right outside the mansion. There were hundreds of people in the yard, tons of food were laid out, dozens of waiters severing refreshments and a huge boar-like beast was getting roasted in one corner as well.

“Oh? What’s going on hm…” Ryu said to himself as he watched in amusement.

Down below where Leonardo’s group are, hundreds of influential people are gathered today to celebrate the lord of the city’s breakthrough to the King Domain.

“Wow this has to be the biggest mansion I’ve seen in a city… there sure is a lot of people here. This isn’t the largest city near the Thousand Swords Graveyard for no reason.” Jane whispered to the group.

“Even the vice-head of Whirlwind Blade Sect from another region is here. The rumors of the relationship between that sect and this city’s lord isn’t simple.” Leonardo murmured.

“Is the reason why our schedule got moved up because the lord is going to be reassigned?” Harry asked.

“Yes, his cultivation is already beyond a typical city’s lord and the city under his leadership had long reach maximum capacity. He’ll be moving to a metropolis to serve as a vice-lord there.” Mr. R replied. “Alright you know your roles, stay focused.”

The group dispersed through the crowd and started mingling. Leonardo and Jane were natural social chatters, they were not afraid to get close to other strangers. Harry on the other hand can clearly be labeled as an introvert with a hostile look. He looks angry no matter what.

Mr. R had started conversing with the people in the center of the party. It was where all the important businessmen and cultivators that wanted to make connections were at. There was a serious looking man with a luxurious elaborate tuxedo greeting everyone. That man was the city’s lord!

Leonardo approached a stunning young lady from behind and tapped her shoulder. She spun around and broke out a gorgeous smile when she saw him. They hugged and kissed then she dragged him off into the garden. It seems as if they knew each other beforehand.

Jane on the other hand had struck a conversation up with an average looking guy with a mid-forties kind of look. His build was on the heavier side and his face was full of acnes. This person was the nephew of the city’s lord. His aptitude was below average and if it wasn’t for the fact that his uncle was the lord of the Starlight Blades City, he wouldn’t have such a comfortable life or enter the Master Domain. After a few minutes of chatter, he led her into the mansion. The mansion was largely empty at this point due to the party in the garden.

Leonardo in turn had already led the lady by hand into a secluded part of the garden. Harry was being ignored in the corner, he slowly approached the direction Leonardo was at.

Since they’ve separated into three ways, Ryu’s clone in the clock tower released two more clones to help observe so he could keep track of all their actions.

“Oh you are so naughty mister.” The lady giggled as Leonardo reached under her uniform.

“Are you sure we are alone?” Leonardo replied with a smile as he latched on to her more. He started running his tongue up her neck.

“Yes, this area… is restricted… there is only two guards… far away…” The lady said between gasps of pleasure.

“Oh really? What’s inside? Who else is guarding it?” Leonardo asked with a fake surprised voice.

“I don’t know… father… would never… tell me but… they are… just guarding some obelisk.” The lady who turned out to be the daughter of the city’s lord was cut off after getting lightly hit on the back of the neck and blacked out.

“Harry! Come out, let’s go!” Leonardo said as he took out a few items from a storage ring. There was a vial of potion, a few talismans, a mask and a short knife with a red blade.

Harry appeared from a bush from the side and had the same items ready in his hands as well. Harry being the bigger of the two, took the body of the lady too. The two dashed towards the inner sanctum of the garden that was sealed off. These two were in the Heaven Domain yet they were jogging with minimum Qi reinforcement. The reason is because that there are some enchantments around the garden that’ll go off if someone utilizing Qi higher than the tenth level. Only the guards had special collars around their necks and can use Qi as the exception.