After being excused by the immortal, Leo and Lex immediately walked out of the palace with Pwea to the main gate.
"Thanks for everything, Pwea. I am truly grateful for your help. I wouldn't have gotten to see this guy if you didn't help," Leo thanked Pwea as he swung his arm around Lex in a playfully violent manner.
"Hey!" Lex shouted in annoyance as he gave off an extremely irritated look that was topped off with a pout?
'Damn, that's new... I've never seen him do that before...' Leo thought as he pondered on what the heck Lex might have been doing during his time here.
"It's my pleasure," Pwea replied as she nervously waved her hands erratically, "You saved me and the princess when we were back in Lapis Kingdom so it was normal that I do you a favor."
"Anyways, Lex and I will leave now as we don't want to cause much trouble here. Please forward my thanks to Eya for keeping Lex safe," Leo spoke as he bowed, dragging Lex's head down with him.
"I indeed will," Pwea replied as she lightly smiled while Lex managed to escape from Leo's grip and had run a dozen meters away.
"You should smile more often, it suits you more than the fake personality you put on back when I first met you in Lapis," Leo added as he slowly straightened up.
Hearing this, a sudden blush appeared on Pwea's face as she shyly lowered her gaze to the floor in embarrassment, and a short moment of awkwardness set in.
Seeing this, Leo quickly spoke, "Well then... I don't think we should keep bothering you anymore. You should probably go and tend to the royal family again. Lex and I can make our way out now."
"Ahem... yes. Then I'll see you guys off here," Pwea spoke nervously as she took a deep breath to recover.
"Yep, I'll see you at Jade City then, have a good trip," said Leo as he turned around and walked towards Lex.
"Big sis Pwea, see you again soon!" Lex shouted excitedly to her as he waved goodbye and walked off into the streets with Leo as they crossed the bridge.
A few hours later...
Leo and Lex had made their way out of the city and we now en route to Jade City.
"Okay! This field looks good enough, let's stop here for a short break!" Leo spoke out with an unusual tone of excitement.
"What's gotten into you? Why are we taking a break so early?" Lex asked, catching the unusual tone of excitement from Leo's statement.
Hearing Lex, Leo turned to him and pointed towards the empty green field that lay in front of them and said, "We're far enough from civilization now. I wanna see how far you have improved in the short period that you were away from me? Let's spar."
Lex's face suddenly shone with excitement as he made his way onto the field with a small smile on his face and he coldly spoke, "I'm gonna show you how much I have improved."
"Haha, I'm glad that you are taking this seriously. Now come! Show me the mark that Jade Empire has made in your cultivation," Leo declared as he also showed a serious expression on his face while limiting his cultivation down to low emission realm and taking on a defensive stance, his eyes sharply observing Lex's body for the slightest of movements.
Swoosh!
Leo's eyebrows were temporarily raised in surprise as Lex had reached right next to him in the blink of an eye while leaving a trail of small purple glowing particles. His body was arched as he pulled his hand back preparing to deliver a heavy punch as Lex gathered a large amount of energy while forming a fist causing it to dimly glow with the white coating.
"Crap..." Leo managed to mumble as he hurriedly raised his fists in a blocking pose and planted his foot firmly on the ground, bracing for impact.
Boom!
A soundwave was released as the ground where Leo was planted under immediately became cracked from the force of Lex's punch and it held on for a few seconds before giving up and cracking further, forcing Leo back. As Leo was forced back, a huge thick waft of brown dust was swept up from the dark gaps that were formed from the spiderweb-like cracks.
Lex pulled back his punch as he stared at the scene he had created with a proud smirk on his face but his face immediately changed when he saw the vague silhouette of his brother become visible as the dust slowly settled again, carpeting the ground.
"How was it?" he asked expectantly.
Leo's body was now back into full sight and he was still holding the pose that he did before blocking Lex's punch. His feet had dragged along a five-inch deep five-meter line. He calmly raised his head as he immediately patted his palm on the place where Lex had stuck as if he was hoping that would help alleviate the pain.
A smile appeared on his face as he looked at Lex and spoke, "Damn that hurt. You can definitely face a peak emission cultivator without any trouble now."
A relieved smile also appeared on Lex's face as he heard his brother's remark, "Thank you."
"That was some good movement speed there. I take it that it's an art that you learned from here?"
"Yup. It's the first stage of the Drunken Immortal movement technique, Winding Way. I haven't perfected it yet, I'm only able to use it in short bursts," Lex replied as his eyes shone with admiration, "You should see the Immortal use it, it is amazing to watch."
"That guy even let you learn his movement technique?" Leo asked in slight shock as he did not expect Lex to gain the immortal's trust to this extent in such a short time to which Lex replied with a firm nod.
"Interesting... Let's get a tad bit more serious now then. If you are going to utilize these movements then I'm going to need something to keep me up as well," Leo spoke excitedly as he took a battle stance.
"Big bro," Lex suddenly asked.
"Yes?"
"Why don't you use your sword?" he asked.
"Ah... I plan to use that later, I have something to show you and if you impress me enough in this spar then I might even impart it to you," Leo replied with a smile.
"Okay then, you better not live to regret it later cos that's just the surface of how much I have improved since you last saw me a few months ago!" Lex declared with excitement as he heard that there might be an art that would be rewarded upon him and he once again rushed forward but this time Leo was well prepared and they had a proper duel as they exchanged dozens of moves, completely disregarding the beautiful scenery around them.
At the same time, at Jade city, Eupheme and Edgar have arrived as they just passed the main gate while paying the entry fee.
"Well then, now that we have arrived, I'm going to head over to the inn where the Crystal Empire is supposed to be meeting up. Do you want to come with me or do you have something else to do?" Edgar offered as he thought Leo would probably want Eupheme and him to stick together until he arrives while walking along the clean kept white pavement streets.
"Sorry, your majesty, but I will have to turn down your offer. Leo had actually told me about some stuff that he actually wanted me to buy so I will have to go for a while. Could you tell me where the crystal empire will be staying? I'll also book a room there when I come back," replied Eupheme with the trademark stoic expression on his face.
"I see... Well, I'm perfectly fine with that. Let's split up here then, we will be staying at the Bountiful Harvest," Edgar's face suddenly turned complicated for a split second before he took a deep breath and told Eupheme before turning his body and walking away.
(A/N: I'm not going you the fight between Lex and Leo yet... The setting is not perfect yet...)