In a secluded alleyway of an extremely large city, dozens of workers could be seen going about loading a caravan with chests. The chests were quite large, and were all closed, hiding the contents of what laid within.
To the side, two wealthy looking men stood, observing the loading process. They were dressed in fine suits, a far cry from the normal robes worn by most cultivators.
"Load the goods into the caravan. Be sure to not drop a single chest, or I'll have your heads," one of the finely dressed men instructed with a firm voice.
The man was a middle aged man, with gray hairs just starting to show on his head. He had a thin moustache, and a slightly large belly. He exuded a half-step Meridian Forging cultivation, revealing himself to be quite strong.
To his side was another man dressed in a fine suit as well, who revealed a cultivation at the middle Core Formation Realm.
"Sir Bloenet, are you sure we should be doing this?" the man asked in a hushed yet concerned voice.
Sir Bloenet looked over to the man at his side, and smiled with a confident smile.
"Do you truly think a sect as large as the Bloodfiend Sect would notice a sum such as this missing? To them, this isn't even an hour's worth of yearly income. It's just a rounding error for them. And even if they do manage to spot the discrepancies, we can just say it was a shipping error, or that some of our caravans enroute were robbed. There's no way the Bloodfiend Sect will use resources for something this small," Sir Bloenet explained.
Sir Bloenet was a merchant of the Hazel City merchant guild. Hazel city was one of the largest cities within all of the forbidden alliance lands, and contained millions of people within. As part of the agreement between the Bloodfiend Sect and the Hazel City merchant guild, the Bloodfiend Sect would ensure their safety as long as the merchant guild paid monthly dues for such protection.
Not only that, but as part of the Bloodfiend Sect controlled land, the merchant guild was required to pay a monthly tax as well. Sir Bloenet was one of the merchant halls lead merchants, and controlled most of their finances.
While this sum of money was trivial for the Bloodfiend Sect, it was more than a lifetime's worth of money for Sir Bloenet. As such, the risk was worth the reward for him.
"If you insist," the man to his right replied with a half-defeated tone.
"Don't worry. I've covered our tracks with the utmost care, and I also have informants within the sect itself. If they were to discover this, I should get a heads up anyways, and be able to flee before any danger arrives. Besides, we're almost done here. Only a few more days, and we'll both be able to leave these lands for good, and find a better life elsewhere. With the money we'll have at our disposal, we could even establish a small kingdom somewhere to rule over," Sir Bloenet continued.
Sir Bloenet continued to watch the caravans be loaded with the chests, when his eyes suddenly opened wide. A sword was quickly drawn out, and he turned around with incredible speed.
"Who dares!" his loud shout boomed out as he slashed his sword forward.
His eyes opened wide as his sword slashed nothing but air, as there was absolutely nothing behind him.
The man besides Sir Bloenet turned around with a great fright, but saw nothing either.
"What happened? Why did you suddenly draw your weapon?" the man asked.
"I...I thought I sensed someone sneaking up on me. I was almost sure of it...but there's no one here. I guess I was wrong," Sir Bloenet replied with a slightly confused voice.
He was absolutely certain that he had detected something, but there was nothing when he turned around. His guard slightly relaxed, and he went to withdraw his sword when his eyes widened once again.
He quickly turned, and his sword slashed out with great speed, backed by his powerful half-step Meridian Forging cultivation.
Peng!
Sword and scythe collided, and Sir Bloenet's eyes locked onto the person before him.
'I knew I detected something. Who are yo-"
Sir Bloenet's eyes widened greatly as he saw John standing before him, draped in the robes of the Bloodfiend Sect.
A look of slight displeasure lingered on John's face as he kept the man's sword at bay.
"Guess I still need to work on my assassination arts, if even someone like you can detect me twice," John spat out as his free hand suddenly pierced forward.
Che!
His hand, infused with the Dao of Annihilation and hardened by his durable body, pierced forward directly into Sir Bloenet's chest. Sir Bloenet, who never thought John was capable of such an attack, was caught off guard.
"Puhh!"
Sir Bloenet spat out blood as his chest was pierced, as a look of despair entered his eyes. John held his heart in his hand, putting his life completely in John's hands.
"Please...spare me," Sir Bloenet begged for his life.
The man besides him took out his weapon to assist, but a single glance from John stopped him in his tracks. He knew that if he made a single move, John would kill him in a single blow.
John looked back to Sir Bloenet, his indifferent eyes chilling the man to his core. It was as if John didn't even consider the man's life at all.
"While I understand your actions, I unfortunately have a mission I need to carry out," John replied as his hand suddenly clenched tightly.
"Gahhh!"
Sir Bloenet cried out in pain as his heart was instantly crushed, but his cries were immediately silenced as John's hand sliced sideways, severing his head from his neck. Sir Bloenet's limp body collapsed to the ground, while John held his severed head by his blood soaked hair.
He turned to look at the other man, who was completely frozen in fear.
'I have no problem killing this man, but anyone willing to rob the Bloodfiend Sect is alright by me.'
His mission was to take Sir Bloenet's life and take his head back as proof. None of the other men concerned him, and their cultivations were too low to add to his body cultivation. John's figure suddenly vanished from sight as quickly as he came, leaving no trace of his actions other than the headless corpse of his victim remaining.
