The reports the Enforcement Sector received and the disturbance they felt made even the Enforcement Head make a personal appearance.
"Can someone tell me what in the hell happened here??" the Enforcement Head violently smashed his foot into the ground, making the earth crack for tens of meters.
"Sir…" A Peak Foundation Establishment Realm Enforcement Officer stood next to the Enforcement Head. "It's obvious from all the blackened debris that a powerful Fire user destroyed one of the Main Branches of the Bloodring Assassins Guild. As for who would have such a motive… the list is very long."
"You think I don't know that!?" the Enforcement Head retorted. "Those damn Assassins were brazen enough to place multiple of their buildings dead in the center of Star Bearer City. I'd even want to do this to them!"
The Bloodring Assassins Guild had too many enemies to count. But at the same time, their strength was great enough to ignore them all and continue making money through dirty work.
None in the Star Bearer Province had dared to attack them like this before…
Truly unprecedented.
"The Guild Leader and Vice Guild Leaders of the Bloodring Assassins are supposedly out of the Province right now," said the Enforcement Head, his tone dire. "But when they return… whoever had the balls to do this will surely pay the price."
"Head!" an Officer called out as he was inspecting the area. "These are clear signs of a struggle between Golden Core Realm Cultivators. The aggressor should be the same."
The Enforcement Head sighed. "It won't matter," he said. "Unless the aggressor is powerful enough to beat a Late Stage Golden Core Realm Expert, he'll be killed, and the city will suffer because of it."
In all of Star Bearer Province, only a handful of figures could compare to the Leader of the Bloodring Assassins Guild. One was the Mayor of Star Bearer City, whereas another was the Grandmaster of Starling Academy.
"Whoever decided to mess around this time has really kicked the hornet's nest good," said the Enforcement Head as he leaned down, gliding his finger through ash. "But it's truly a shame. The aggressor is very proficient with the Fire Element, which is rare to come by. That old man in the Academy would've definitely taken an interest in him."
However, none of that mattered now.
"Let's return and report everything we found to the Mayor," ordered the Enforcement Head. "Also, make sure to bring along all the eyewitnesses."
"There are hundreds, sir…"
"...Fine, only bring back 10," replied the Enforcement Head as he walked away from the devastated scenery.
As the Officers of the Law did as they were told, a certain hooded figure raced along the rooftops of the Capital City. His icy gaze was honed in on something large and pointy in the distance.
A Cathedral. One that held prayer ceremonies on the ground floor, and secret meetings in the underground section.
The Bloodring Assassins Guild had 3 total Bases in Star Bearer City. The first one was similar to a regular stronghold or hideout, while this Cathedral was more unorthodox. It was a secret operations base, where the higher class of Star Bearer City would frequent under the guise of giving prayer when they wanted 'something' done discreetly.
As it was very important for business, the Bloodring Assassin's Guild kept the largest number of Golden Core Realm Cultivators guarding it.
Normally, one of the Vice Guild Leaders would be safeguarding it as well, but even without them, it still had over 10 Golden Core Realm Protectors.
Unbelievable military might!
'None are above the Early Stage,' Xue Ren thought while scouting out the place from a high vantage point. 'But seeing as how cultivation becomes exponentially harder the more you progress, this makes sense.'
From books, he read that even if you managed to break through the Golden Core Realm within 400 years, you'd still require 1000+ more to begin tackling the Nascent Soul Realm.
But by then, your lifespan would be all but exhausted…
'I would've run into this problem as well,' Xue Ren thought. 'At least, that would've been the case without the existence of the Fireball Evolution System.'
Although cultivation was a lot more painful for him the higher the Level of his Primary Fireball, he didn't mind.
He could tolerate pain.
Inadequacy, however…
That was simply unacceptable.
"It would be best to make a move after dusk."
With that idea in mind, for the next 4 hours, Xue Ren sat in wait, stalking the Assassins going in and out of the Cathedral. In total, he counted 150+ of them, some of which had accepted jobs during the day from high clientele.
These ones left the Cathedral, their exact return times unknown.
Xue Ren didn't give chase to those who left. Instead, he proceeded to wait, his eyes akin to a hawk's and his patience unmatched by all predators.
Until finally, it was time.