Immortal Kingdoms

The old man, annoyed as he was, shouted once more as an oppressive aura silenced the meeting hall. No other elder spoke up against his usage of power to suppress their juniors as they were somewhat annoyed as well.

Then, their communication bracelets flashed once more, drawing their attention elsewhere. A moment later, some people showed expressions of shock, some had expressions of contemplation, some had expressions of derision, and some had expressions of mortification.

"That lass Aurora pulled the wool over our eyes. I don't understand the motives behind her actions, but there's definitely something fishy about it."

"Since he plans to construct three additional cities to the first, it only makes sense to recruit people. However, I wonder if Aurora stands to gain anything from helping out or if she has some insider information we know nothing about."

The elders shifted their attention to the man with long white robes and the insignia of a forging hammer in the clouds, wind currents could be seen carrying the hammer about, almost naturally at that.

He was the second elder from the pavilion. Only, he didn't accompany Aurora on her flying mount but arrived separately. Everyone glanced at his communication bracelet, but he simply stroked his beard and laughed.

"Junior sister didn't mention anything to little old me, you can either do as she did or go about your business empty-handed."

The other elders glanced at each other for a moment.

"Renting a flying ship to ferry people from here to the location of the Evernight County shouldn't pose any issues— we can afford it."

"Indeed it doesn't cost much, I vote we make similar announcements and start off with ferrying people from Greenheart City; spread the information through our shopfronts in the Martial Script pavilion since we can't use the advertising features of the star missions board."

"What if our disciples also leave?"

"Humph! What if they leave? What if they don't leave? If they want us to stay, they can always offer us more favorable terms and exposure to traffic."

"Indeed… I've already investigated the situation; that Azure Estate Lord Frederik almost monopolized the profits from the Vast Sky Avenu, his influence in this city had stretched to the point where he might start poaching our disciples into his Azure Lane sooner than later."

"It's decided then, spread the word that our pavilions will help ferry the ambitious to a new land; we will prepare rations and shelter for them if they wish to prosper with their lives anew."

"Dream on! Spread the word that our eight mountains are also on the move to ferry people to a safe haven in the uncharted wilderness; we will even provide the talented of them with cultivation scriptures and techniques to fend off for themselves in the wild!"

…

Half a day later, behemoths of flying ships not only from Greenheart City but the neighboring cities of the Lush Skirt Plains Province could be seen crossing the ether-abundant skies of the uncharted wilderness, their direction the newly established Evernight County.

The migration efforts were suppressed to the regions of this province under the interference of the Luan Dynasty's provincial-level officials, but the flood of young and hot blood was massive nonetheless.

As word spread out, more and more cultivators caught wind of it and began their migration to the promise of a new era. Non-cultivators, mortals, and saints flocked into the range of the protective formation and began to help out with building Blackrain City as per the blueprint.

Leonardo already had sufficient rations to feed 100,000 people for three years and he didn't plan to act stingy with them.

The scene instantly exploded while the elders from the pavilion who were responsible for formations somehow caught wind of the upcoming auction for the City Lord position of the cities north, south, and west of the Obsidian Castle and the merit system for land deeds, and just like the Wind Fall Pavilion, they put more efforts and decided to take it upon themselves to construct a makeshift regional formation covering the entirety of Leonardo's territory to cleanse the ether in the environment.

Of course, the mountain range where the Obsidian Palace resides was an exempted area.

Why wouldn't Leonardo desire ether in his cultivation grounds? Rosaline promised both pavilions a private estate in each of the four cities regardless of whom ended up as the eventual City Lord, satisfying the two greatly. As for the other sects who did nothing but ferry people over and hoped to fish for merits, Rosaline had nothing to say to them except for; that was your own decision, no one forced you to.

"Your young master is crazy," Aurora commented lightly as she stood on the back of her Cloud Crane with Rosaline. "Who has the time to study human psychology other than those old monsters? I would rather contemplate my cultivation path… Sigh."

Rosaline rolled her eyes. "He used to be the CEO of some worldwide business group in a planet of non-cultivators. Putting strength aside; humans are still humans."

"What's a CEO?"

"Chief Executive Officer; something like the position of a Grand Elder in your sects— under one person yet above everyone else."

"I see… The Grand Elder isn't omnipotent though…"

"They have something like a board of directors for that as well. Trust me, everything we have here; they have too. The only difference is that we can cultivate and they can't, they're all equal. Hence, they have nothing else to do other than study one another and the world around them if they want to reach the top."

Aurora went silent, deep in thought. She imagined a world where everyone was equal in strength and how would she cope with it? However, try as she might, she couldn't bring herself to imagine such a world.

Since the great sects and three dynasties restrict one another, doesn't that place them in the same environment in which Leonardo thrived on his home planet?

A game of power and schemes?

The more she thought about it, the more she felt like she was pulled into a mess of politics despite this being her first entry to the secular world from the martial world.

Aurora shuddered, wondering about Leonardo's goal from all of this.