Night soon fell, and the splendid lamps of Golden Embankment City began to glow.
This was the central hub of a region spanning ten thousand li. Merchants, travelers, and rogue cultivators from every quarter passed through it. Apart from lacking a Teleportation Array, its facilities, produce, and commerce were already on par with those of first-class cities.
Yet now, along the long main street near the eastern gate of this city that rivaled a first-class metropolis, all was bleak and quiet. The usual bustle of clustered stalls and milling visitors was nowhere to be seen.
Dressed in sumptuous robes, Qian Wei wore a solemn expression. He exuded the bearing of an expert from an aristocratic clan, commanding awe without a show of anger.
He stood silently in the street before a horrifying pool of blood, saying nothing for a long time.
The atmosphere around him was oppressive. The patrol officers, guards, and Qian Clan disciples who had hurried over all bowed their heads in silence, standing quietly beside him.
After a long while, Qian Wei finally spoke again, his voice cold. "You failed to find even the slightest clue? They attacked right here in the street. What are those eyes of yours for, hmm?"
Though he was questioning them, that was better than his continued silence. The commander of the City Guard Army secretly wiped away his cold sweat, knowing he had weathered this ordeal.
He belonged to a minor aristocratic clan and had assumed his position following the upheaval in Golden Embankment City two days earlier. Only the Qian and Luo Clans possessed Earth Rank Experts in the city. The others were small lineages with populations in the thousands and a few dozen Spirit Tamers among their disciples, but no Earth Rank Experts.
These minor lineages had always been