Chapter 908: Duna's Notice
After hearing Darlene's reply, laced with lingering resentment, Leon slightly smiled and gave her head a rub.
He could understand her feelings.
After all, her parents disowned her for being unable to cultivate.
Nevertheless, her parents wouldn't have thought that there would come a day when their daughter could send a Mid-rank Battle King flying with a single kick.
Sometime later, the hall meeting moved onto managerial topics and development plans for the three tribes.
It wasn't something that required Leon's presence. As such, Leon chose to leave the hall with his women.
However, after stepping outside the hall, Chief Valencia caught up to them and stopped him.
"Hold on just a moment, Young Master Leonhardt—No, Alliance Leader," Chief Valencia spoke.
Shortly after, Chief Valencia had a servant bring forward several rolled-up parchments. Then, she gestured the servant to hand it over to Leon.
After Leon accepted the rolled-up parchments, he raised an eyebrow in curiosity. Then, he glanced back at Chief Valencia with a questioning look.
"What is this?" Leon asked.
"You were interested in our runic mining tech, right? Although it took some time, this is the blueprint for the upgraded version of the mining automatons," Chief Valencia explained.
"Oh?" Leon exclaimed with a pleasant surprise.
If he brought this blueprint back for the Lancaster family to study, he was certain they would accept it with delight.
And once they incorporate the runic technology in the blueprint, it will push forward the empire's development plans.
"Please give me regards to the other side when you return, Alliance Leader."
"I will," Leon nodded.
After Chief Valencia watched Leon store the rolled-up parchments in his interspatial storage, she felt relieved, like she had just put down a burden.
Shortly after Chief Valencia returned inside the great hall, Leon turned to Darlene.
"Why don't you head on over to Barrenrock Courtyard first and check on your sisters first, and warn them about Empyrean Infinite Void's matter while you're at it?" Leon suggested.
Darlene contemplated for a moment before she nodded, "Mm. Then, I will see you later."
"Yeah, I'll pick you up when we are returning to the Human Domain," Leon promised.
Shortly after, Darlene took off from the plateau and plunged to the lower ground with a single jump. Such height was no longer a problem for someone with her level of body cultivation.
"I'll be leaving too," Duna uttered indifferently after contemplating for a moment.
Aria and Leon immediately turned to face her with surprised looks on their faces. Then, Leon quickly asked, "Leaving? Where are you going?"
"To look for opportunities elsewhere. Given my current cultivation level, it will continue to stagnate if I only follow you. Don't try to persuade me otherwise. This is something I need to do," Duna stated calmly.
"I see…"
Leon uttered, feeling at a loss. Since she already said as much, there wasn't much he could say to make her stay.
"Don't be too disappointed. I won't be leaving right away. Come and find me in my room at Barrenrock Courtyard alone after you've settled your matters in the palace. I won't leave before then," Duna stated.
Leon let out a sigh before he nodded, "Alright."
Shortly after, Duna also left the area. Then, Leon turned towards the palace's inner courtyard's direction.
"Let us visit my adoptive parents and little sister."
"Mm," Aria complied.
Thinking Leon might be feeling dispirited by Duna's notice to leave, Aria hugged Leon's arm to comfort him on the way to the inner courtyard.
…
Shortly after Aria and Leon stepped into his adoptive parent's courtyard, he spotted Mia playing by herself.
However, she instinctive felt someone's gaze and turned her head to the courtyard entrance. When she discovered Leon there, her big eyes quickly lit up like the stars.
"Big brother!" Mia exclaimed.
In the next instance, she rushed over with excitement. However, she suddenly lost strength and tripped over nothing, falling forward.
Luckily, Leon caught her before she could graze herself on the rough ground.
"It seems like you still remember this big brother of yours," Leon chuckled softly before saying, "But be careful next time."
"I didn't forget Big Brother; it was Big Brother who forgot about Mia—!" Mia pouted in response when she suddenly started having a coughing fit.
"Hm?" Leon's eyes flickered seriously.
"Your little sister appears to be unwell," Aria mentioned with concern.
At first glance, Mia appeared perfectly healthy. However, the phlegm from her cough carried a foul scent. Furthermore, Mia appeared much weaker after her coughing fit.
Her face paled, and her lips turned slightly purplish.
Leon nodded.
Being a skilled doctor, he immediately knew what was wrong with his little sister. The dark energy in the environment had whittled away her health.
Such a problem wouldn't happen in other children, but Mia only had one kidney.
At that moment, Helen and Brian also stepped out of their room after hearing the earlier commotion outside.
They were overjoyed to see Leon. But before they could celebrate his return, they noticed Mia's sickly look in Leon's arms and rushed over with shock.
"What's happening to Mia?" Helen inquired with concern.
After hearing his adoptive mother's question, Leon glanced at his adoptive parents' confused and concerned expressions with doubt.
"You didn't know about Mia's condition even though it deteriorated this much, Mom?" Leon asked with knitted brows.
It shouldn't have been difficult to notice Mia was sick at least, right?
"Mia started having a few light coughs in the past two weeks, but we thought it was due to the growing cold weather. Mia, herself, said she was feeling cold. We thought it was just a simple cold and kept her inside to recuperate."
"We only just let her out to play again yesterday when she said she felt better. It's the first time we've seen her condition deteriorate this seriously," Helen explained with a look of self-blame.
She wondered if she had been taking care of Mia poorly and missed the signs of her deteriorating health.
"Big Brother, don't blame Mom and Dad. Mia didn't want to inconvenience anyone," Mia said weakly.
Everyone immediately understood Mia had been hiding her sickness.
"Haiz, you silly goose. You mustn't hide the truth from Mom and Dad when you are sick," Leon sighed.
Shortly after, he took out the highest quality Tier-6 Divine Returning Spring Pill he refined and fed it to Mia.