Immortal Kingdoms

All of them were dressed in immaculate black maid outfits, even their hairstyles were the same flowing river with white rose ribbons entwined within. Each maid was cuter than the last, their eyes sparkling like clear ponds with lotus-like black eyes.

In unison, they greeted, "Welcome home, Master!"

Before Leonardo could even respond, the one to the extreme left stepped forward and knelt on one knee, "Master Junior Brother arranged for us to welcome you,"

The moment Leonardo heard the last sentence, his confusion was quelled greatly. However, this really wasn't the appropriate time for twelve young girls to pop out.

Nevertheless, recalling how strong Junior Brother was, coupled with how young he looked, Leonardo probingly swept the twelve young maidens with his spiritual sense, shocked to find that other than their immortal constitution talents, he couldn't sense their cultivation.

Moreover, he was sure that he could only probe their talents because they allowed him to. As for cultivation, it was probably because his cultivation was insufficient and most of his energy and spirit were currently nurturing Rosaline, greatly limiting his activities.

Leonardo coughed lightly, "Since it was Junior Brother who sent you, you can call me brother Shi, no need to be so formal… For now, a group of you can accompany Elizabeth and this old man to a guest room each, while one of you can stay behind to help me understand the situation."

The house was a high-end establishment, and on the third floor, a massive library occupied almost half the floor while neighboring a study office room. At this moment, Leonardo was seated behind his desk in the study while looking at this tender young Maiden in front of him.

The Maiden bowed, "We are slaves brought up by Master Junior Brother and the Memento Mori Brotherhood. Because Master Leonardo is still too weak to look after himself, we are a private squad tasked with protecting and assisting in your training."

"Immortal talent slaves?" Leonardo blinked his eyes in bewilderment. By now, he understood that each of the twelve Maidens was a divinity, and if nothing went wrong and things followed the natural pace since their worldly energy had been rejuvenated by ether already, they would most likely make it to level 95 and start forming their rebirth core; star core, in less than ten years.

And in less than a hundred years of bitter cultivation, going from level 95 to a full cycle of 100 shouldn't be a problem either, completing their rebirth. That goes to say that even with immortal talent, without lucky opportunities and energy-dense treasures, their speed in cultivation, once they reach the divine realm, would be excruciatingly slow.

The Maiden bowed again, her voice apathetic while explaining, "We are tools to the remnants of the Lost Dynasty that had been subjected to collective invasion from the other three dynasties; Luan, Jin, and Dong. It was Grandmaster Sin and his six disciples who took action in the throes of war to help one talented heir of every grand noble house to escape, kidnapping women of great talent from the other three dynasties while on the run."

"For thousands of years, the Memento Mori Brotherhood of the original six disciples kept disturbing the peace of the Core Mainland, it is unknown how far their claws stretched into the light and dark of this world. However, they always abduct women of high talent as breeding tools to produce high-quality slaves that are sold to the black market and evil sects, we are simply a byproduct of that practice, Master Leonardo."

"Hence, please don't treat us kindly as the blood of your predestined enemies runs through our veins. We have been mechanically trained to obey, and our small stature is a side effect of the binding restrictions on our essence, spirits, and bloodlines that prevents our natural growth to reach the rebirth realm. Only if you allow it would the restriction be removed in the future, but I highly recommend you not to remove the restrictions unless you attain enough power to subdue us regardless of whether such restrictions existed or not."

…

Leonardo wondered if Grandmaster Sin intended to take him as the 7th disciple, but he immediately rid himself of that idea. If that were the case, there would be no need to go through all this trouble, not to mention that Leonardo understood his karma best.

With the enmity between Memento Mori and the Three Dynasties, they might have simply calculated karma, inevitably finding out about the enmity between Leonardo and the Jin Dynasty, only for his karma to bring about a backlash to their prophet or whoever. Following that line of thought, Leonardo was no more than an investment and a gamble.

However, Leonardo didn't mind.

"What is the situation on the Core Mainland exactly? The power distribution of the upper echelons, I don't care about the second-rate powers at this moment." Leonardo looked back at this bowing Maiden who knew how many centuries older than him.

"The upper echelons of the Core Mainland's strength reside in the hands of the Three Dynasties, Three Great Sect, Three Great Pavilions, and one Supreme Temple… The Supreme Temple stands aloof from the conflicts between the sects and dynasties, they only preside over the trade and commerce between those great powers to maintain a delicate balance that wouldn't wring out the peace in the Core Mainland due to excessive greed."

The Maiden hesitated for a moment and added, "I believe that this superficial knowledge is enough for now, as any more and it would disturb the Master's ability to make clear judgments in the future, especially regarding some very sensitive matters. However, if you wish, I can go into further detail…"

Leonardo thought for a moment and waved his hand, "No need, I have something in mind right now. Dispatch ten Maidens to the Magistrate Manor to complete missions under my name. Within one month, I want each of them to complete ten missions and tell them to take on the missions they're absolutely confident in completing, I don't have time for failure."

"As you wish, Master," the Maiden bowed before morphing into a cluster of black smoke that slipped through the cracks in the door's frame, silently leaving the room.

Leonardo blinked, "That's a wonderful movement technique… Sigh, I really need to work on my technique catalog. I only have one decent technique to my name at this moment, but it could only prove reliable once I made it to the rebirth realm. Moreover, with Rosaline's activity, I can't focus my domain enough to conjure that attack anytime soon."

After giving the matter some thought, Leonardo decided he might as well leave the city and take advantage of Rosaline's mutation to speed up his cultivation. Under normal circumstances, a saint going into the uncharted wilderness is nothing but suicide, but Rosaline's pressure in his soul pearl gave him confidence.