Duncan left the city without any delay.
He didn't think it was wise to remain in the city longer than he needed to be present. After all, the City Protecting Formation has not been activated yet. The City Lord's office was most probably using his attack to grab more power from the clans.
This struggle between the clans and the City Lord's office gave him enough leeway to escape without being hunted down. The City Protecting Formation can only be deployed by the City Lord. And it is only deployed when facing strong enemies.
Duncan right now had the confidence to go toe to toe with the City Lord. His recent improvements let him know that he had severely underestimated the increase in his strength after the bloodline was awakened.
Right now, fighting someone in the middle stages of the Violet Palace realm even seemed doable. However, Duncan wasn't sure about going against a middle-stage Violet Palace realm cultivator backed by a City Protecting Formation. Moreover, this time, he would be trapped inside the formation.
Even if Duncan was able to manage to break out of the siege, the fight wouldn't be without injuries or any other worries. Even a strong elephant can be killed by ants if the circumstances are right. Right now, he had already annihilated one clan. If the other clans join hands, then he would end up in a sorry state.
But, those were all the reasons he said to justify his hasty exit from the city.
The real reason was that he wanted to find a secluded spot and meditate for a while. After the fight with the patriarch, Duncan felt as if he had touched upon some profound truth. He urgently wanted to comprehend it further. He can fight anytime he wanted, but moments like this were rare.
Duncan didn't want to miss such a thing.
Duncan traveled fast as if he was running away from something. He didn't care about how this looked to anyone who was watching. Rather, he was currently impatient to find a quiet place to retreat and meditate.
Suddenly, Duncan thought of the forest region he used to hunt beasts in while working as a mercenary. That place felt ideal to retreat for a few days. Duncan changed his direction and hastened his place. Within the next hour, he reached the outskirts of the forest region.
There were a lot of people waiting at the entrance of the forest region. Duncan didn't pay any attention to them. As he approached, two men wanted to bar his path as if wanting to say something.
Duncan was already running thin on his patience. He didn't have the mindset to stand and listen to these people. He knew that most of these men were mercenaries who sometimes surrounded the entry point of the forest and exhorted some entry fee or waited for someone to come out and rob them.
With a wave of his hands, those two men were sent flying. Duncan didn't even pause to look whether they were alive or not. He bypassed the blockade in front of him and traveled to the interior of the forest in a hurry.
He knew that the outer regions will be filled with mercenaries hunting beasts and they are bound to cause some commotion. It was best to avoid them. He had never been to the interior regions of the forest because of his low strength at that time. But still, he felt it would be easier to find a quiet place in the interior regions.
Duncan crossed the outer region in a hurry and vanished into the interior regions without delay.
*****
Few minutes after Duncan entered the interior regions two men came to the spot Duncan had entered with an angry look on their face.
"That person entered very swiftly. He is likely to be a cultivator with high strength. We received information from the ones guarding the forest outside and rushed over to intercept him, but I didn't think he would be this fast," one man said with an irritated look on his face.
"Be glad that we didn't run into him," the other man was more practical. "This kind of news can't be hidden. Someone would surely blab. With the way the man directly dashed into the inner region, he is most probably here for that treasure as well. From the looks of it, we are not his opponents at all. It is best to avoid such people."
"What are we going to tell the Elders? They asked us to guard the perimeter and not allow anyone inside," the first man said a little anxiously.
"What else can we do? We will report that we failed to intercept the man and he had already rushed into the inner regions. The Elders can't blame us for that," the other man said nonchalantly and used a message talisman to send his report.
"What now?"
"What else? We guard. That is all we can do. We are not his opponents let the Elders deal with him," the practical one shrugged and went back.
*****
Deep in the inner region of the forest, an old man suddenly opened his eyes and frowned a little. There were three more old men who were sitting alongside him and waiting patiently. They saw the old man's frown and asked curiously.
"Old Seventh, what's the matter?" Old Third asked.
"Someone barged into the inner regions. The guard we posted outside wasn't able to intercept him at all. The report said that the man's speed was fast and was most likely heading here," Old Seventh said with a sigh.
"It is expected," Old Sixth said calmly. "We blockaded the entire forest. Someone is bound to notice. Even if they don't know what is in here, they would be curious enough to come. That's why I said we shouldn't make such a big commotion."
"Hmmph," Old Seventh snorted. "If we don't block the area, everyone would soon find out the news of the treasure. Then it would be a bitter struggle. That's why everyone agreed to blockade the entire forest. Are you blaming me now that someone has barged in?"
"I was never in favor of the blockade. It was tacky. No matter who comes, only the ones with strength would be qualified to hold the treasure. No use in putting up that blockade at all. Wasn't it broken just like that now?" Old Sixth retorted angrily.
"Enough," a soft voice came from the side causing the two old men to subside. "There is no need to argue. What is done is done. Old Sixth is right. Only those with power can hold the treasure. With the four of us here, who in the surrounding regions will be qualified to vie with us for the treasure?"
"First Elder…" Old Seventh said anxiously.
"Seventh, I understand why you did it. I don't blame you for that. It also has some uses. It would prevent other miscellaneous people from muddying the water. Whoever comes for the treasure, we will fight it out with them. With our four elders from the Little Heaven Sect present, I want to see who dares to fight with us for the treasure," the First Elder said in a calm manner.
The other three old men nodded and let go of this matter soon. They all closed their eyes and once again entered a meditative state waiting for the treasure to be born.
*****
While Duncan retreated to cultivate, the situation in the outside world deteriorated rapidly.
Within two days, the death of the City Lord and three more patriarchs in the city caused a huge sensation. Including the Wang and Ling clan patriarchs, there were a total of four patriarchs dead. The City Lord was also dead and Captain Yu was struggling very hard to control the unrest among the clans.
The situation was further exacerbated by the arrival of various sect envoys on the third day. The Iron Mountain Sect was the first to arrive in the Starmist City. The Young Master of the Wang Clan was not present in the entourage. However, the envoy from the Iron Mountain Sect was really angry with the situation.
"What do you mean that there was nothing you could do?" the envoy roared angrily at Captain Yu. "As the City Lord, aren't you responsible for keeping the peace in the city? How can you let someone murder a whole clan in broad daylight? Furthermore, you haven't even caught the culprit yet."
"Envoy Ming, I understand your anger. However, as a mere Captain of the City Guard, there is really nothing I could do at that moment. The City Protecting Formation is always in the hands of the City Lord. We can't do anything regarding it," Captain Yu was also a little vexed with the situation.
"How convenient that your City Lord is dead, eh?" Envoy Ming sneered. "Now that there is no one for me to question, you can easily shirk off all the blame on your dead City Lord."
"Envoy Ming," Captain Yu frowned lightly. "I am sure you have heard about the recent happenings in the city already. The city is already in turmoil. Four patriarchs and the City Lord are all dead within three days. I have a lot on my hands. I assure you that I or my City Guards are powerless in this matter."
"Hmmph, then what about the culprit? Do you know where he is?" Envoy Ming asked a little dissatisfiedly.
