Chapter 408 - Rank 5 Body Tempering

"If you two speak untruthfully again, be prepared to be punished! This time, I will let it slide. But do not let there be another time, understood?!" Goldeneye sternly warned.

"Yes, Lord Goldeneye!"

"Hmph! This matter should be dropped today. Do not pursue that person for revenge." Goldeneye left those words with a flick of his wrist, heading back inside the hut to watch over his father.

"Are you just going to leave it like that after what that person did to our father, brother?" Goldenrod asks.

Goldeneye glanced at his younger brother and said, "Leonhardt isn't someone we can touch right now. At least it cannot be known that it is done by our faction. He enjoys great fame right now, and even his importance far outstrips mine. Do you understand the difference between us?"

"Brother's Dark Wyvern represents the birth of a future Battle King." Goldenrod wrinkled his brows and said, "However, Leonhardt can cure Demon Possession. His existence represents the possibility of birthing many Battle Kings."

"Exactly. This person has the ability to raise the tribe to the sky and upset the power balance of the entire Infertile Plains! It no longer matters where this person came from. What is important is his ability to cure Demon Possession! Anyone who touches him will be the enemy of the entire human race!"

Goldenrod frowned and said, "But I heard that the rats from the Great Ironhawk Tribe tried to assassinate him after failing to recruit him to their side."

"That is because they are narrowminded and selfish! They know that so long as Leonhardt stays with our tribe, our Darkmoon Tribe will rise to greatness. Thus, since they cannot have him, they do not want anyone else to have him! Right now, news of Leonhardt's abilities and feats have only spread in our tribe. It is the only chance they have to kill Leonhardt without suffering the consequences."

"I see. If news of Leonhardt's existence is spread to the rest of the Infertile Plains, the Great Ironhawk Tribe will not dare to assassinate him again. They can only do so now while Leonhardt is still relatively unknown to the Infertile Plains. Thus, even if we accuse them, they can just deny that such a person existed."

"That's right. That should be exactly the logic of those rats when they made their move against Leonhardt." Goldeneye nodded.

"Still…" Goldenrod glanced at their father and said, "Are we just going to let our father suffer in silence like this without doing anything?"

Goldeneye fell silent for a moment.

After a while, he opened his mouth and said, "Although we cannot touch Leonhardt for the betterment of the tribe, it does not mean we need to suck up to such a person either. We are destined not to get along after what has happened to our father. Thus, it's fine to find some trouble with Leonhardt as long as we don't take it too far."

"I understand." Goldenrod suddenly had an idea. They cannot make a move against Leonhardt himself, but maybe they can touch the people around him.

Nevertheless, this would just be a petty move.

Goldeneye furrowed his brows slightly. He recalled a matter and asks, "I heard you made a bet with the person and became his subordinate after losing?"

"You also heard about that?"

Goldenrod immediately became awkward.

…

Barrenrock Courtyard.

After Darlene tried on each set of clothes found inside the Tier 1 Interspatial Pouch, she picked the one she was most comfortable wearing and put the rest back in the pouch.

'Hubby also bought me Enchanted Equipment… these must have cost a fortune.' Darlene thought as she glanced at the leather armor inside the pouch while feeling sweet inside.

She had never received anything so expensive before. She was a little afraid to wear the Enchanted Equipment, lest she damages it and feels pained.

After placing the Tier 1 Interspatial Pouch in a secured drawer, Darlene headed outside for some fresh air and to look for Leon.

However, she found no one in the courtyard. She searched every room but still failed to find a trace of Leon. The entire courtyard was empty, and even the entrance was busted down.

What happened here? Did something happen to her hubby while she was asleep in the bedroom? Feeling that something serious might have happened, she decided to contact the chief. She did not know that the entrance had been busted down much earlier.

Back inside the bedroom, Darlene sealed the door before loosening her hair bun and took out the voice-transmission stone hidden within.

In the Chief Palace, Chief Valencia was in the middle of a discussion with Master Woodrow, who suddenly visited when she felt her voice-transmission stone lighting up.

"Sorry, Master Woodrow. Something came up." Chief Valencia furrowed her brows and spoke.

She moved to a more secluded spot away from the Great Hall before she answered the voice-transmission stone.

"What is it?"

"Young Master Leonhardt is missing, chief," Darlene answered from the other side of the voice-transmission stone.

"When did this?"

Darlene recounted her intimate moments with Leonhardt again before passing out and how he was already missing when she woke up and discovered the busted door.

"Alright, I understand. Remain on standby and do not go anywhere. I will handle this."

"Understood, chief."

After Chief Valencia ended the call with Darlene via the voice-transmission stone, she summoned the scouts and inquired, "Where is Leonhardt right now?"

"Leonhardt should still be inside Barrenrock Courtyard, chief. None of my men have reported Leonhardt leaving that place." The scout answered.

Chief Valencia frowned.

"Are you positive?"

"Very positive, chief."

Chief Valencia rubbed her temples before asking, "How's the rat extermination task going?"

��We've taken down five and captured two. Apart from that, there is still another two spies at the Extremity-rank Great Warrior Realm on the run, chief."

"Speed it up. Request from the senior warriors if you need to. I want these rats off my streets as soon as possible."

"Yes, chief!"

"And send some men to look into Leonhardt's disappearance. See if it has anything to do with those rats or the Beast Tamer Faction." Chief Valencia ordered.

"Understood, chief!"

After the scout left, Chief Valencia narrowed her eyes coldly and softly muttered, "Don't let me find out Leonhardt's disappearance had something to do with you people."

She had been very accommodating of the Beast Tamer Faction and left them to their own devices. However, if they do not know what is good for them and played a part in Leonhardt's disappearance, she will not hesitate to wash the Beast Tamer Faction in blood.

Perhaps, this was what Leon meant by those words he left the last time they met. When a group of people and her do not see eye to eye, it is better to cut them off before they grow and bite her back painfully.

"What happened?" Master Woodrow asked curiously upon seeing Chief Valencia return to the Great Hall.

Chief Valencia sighed, "Leonhardt went missing."

"What?"

Just a moment ago, Master Woodrow was happily discussing with Chief Valencia about gather the Venerable Shamans and pooling all their ancient book collections together. But hearing about Leonhardt's disappearance, his mood immediately plummeted.

…

Meanwhile, Leon was still cultivating under Barrenrock Courtyard. He did not know that his disappearance would cause such a big commotion in the tribe.

He refined every ounce of Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy he could before continuing to temper his flesh according to the [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard] and [Godfiend Body Forging Method].

In a short few hours, his body's strength and defensive capabilities had jumped by leaps and bounds in cultivation. Under the right conditions, his cultivation had improved at a tremendous rate!

Ding!

Leon pushed through the barrier and broke through to Rank 5 Body Tempering Realm! At this level, his base physical strength reached 50-thousand jin!

There was no exaggerated effect or sound when breaking through to higher levels in the Body Tempering Realm. It just an instinctive feeling when his body reaches a certain threshold of strength.

On the other hand, his body's defense has reached a terrifying level of 500-thousand jin! He was halfway through to the third stage of the [Black Turtle Heavenly Guard] technique!

Leon's eyes suddenly snapped open.

He exhaled some turbid air from his mouth before shaking his head with mild disappointment.

"If I did not run out of pseudo-Grandmist Energy, I would be able to keep cultivating!"

He had expended both his primary pseudo-Grandmist Energy reserve and Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy reserves.

Although the ring of grey energy revolving around his soul core in the Black Vortex was able to transform into any element he comprehended, it was more challenging to replicate pseudo-Grandmist Energy.

After all, he did not have something like a Grandmist Seed or Nihility Seed either.

To refine more pseudo-Grandmist Energy, he still needs to gather more energy from heaven and earth, especially Spatial Energy and Temporal Energy, which was sparse in his current location. They are most abundant in the void, where everything else seems absent.

Furthermore, his body cultivation improved the quickest when he was tempering his body with Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy!

"I need to refine more Great pseudo-Grandmist Energy! But I also cannot break through this planet's sky with my present cultivation, let alone enter the void!"

Leon sighed.

Not having enough energy for cultivation has always been the biggest problem since his transmigration.

Suppose he wants to leave Planet Gaia to cultivate in the void.. In that case, he might need to rely on alternative methods before his awakening cultivation reaches an adequate level for breaking through the world's atmosphere.