Chapter 40: Cleaning Up An Annoying Mess

Chapter 40: Chapter 40: Cleaning Up An Annoying Mess

The temperature seemed to drop, and the air itself became strangely heavy. Martha and Pete, ordinary people with no martial cultivation, were instantly rendered completely immobile.

Lucas reacted immediately and tried to circulate his energy to break free, but the invisible pressure was far beyond what he had anticipated. His body became rigid, and he could barely move a finger.

What is this?

His eyes widened as a figure slowly emerged from the darkness.

Xavier.

Lucas’s pupils contracted.

Xavier?

The young man they had come here to capture was standing calmly before them, but the strength he was displaying was completely different from that of the harmless Body Tempering martial artist they had been told about.

Lucas suddenly understood. They had not come here to capture Xavier. They had walked straight into his trap.

Xavier’s hand moved, and a sword appeared in his grasp, its blade shimmering with a faint electric glow. Marcus desperately tried to break free, but he failed.

The blade flashed.

In the final instant before darkness consumed his vision, Lucas saw Xavier move with terrifying calm, and then everything went black.

Xavier stood over the bodies, breathing heavily. He tightened his grip around the Thunderclap Blade and looked toward where Lucas had fallen. A trace of excitement flashed through his eyes.

"As expected of a ninth-grade martial art. Even someone at the peak of Foundation Establishment, whose cultivation is far above mine, couldn’t withstand it," he said, his breathing still uneven.

"But that power comes at a price," he added.

Xavier wiped the sweat from his forehead.

"In just a couple of seconds, it consumed nearly eighty percent of my vital energy," he said.

The terrifying effect he had unleashed earlier came from the Six Harmonies Heaven Piercing Finger.

Once activated, the technique created a powerful field within a roughly fifty meter radius. Inside that area, everything seemed to become completely immobilized. Everyone except the person who cast the technique. Xavier alone could move normally.

That brief moment of absolute control had been enough. Lucas had been unable to resist. Neither had Ethan’s parents. Xavier had immediately used the opportunity to kill all three.

When dealing with martial artists, there were several areas of the human body that were particularly vulnerable. The head. The throat. And the heart.

The head was difficult to penetrate because of the skull. The throat was similarly troublesome because of the muscles and cervical vertebrae protecting it. Unless someone possessed enough power to completely sever the neck, a strike there might not kill an opponent instantly.

The heart, however, was different. A sufficiently powerful attack directly through the heart could end the fight immediately.

That was why Xavier had chosen Lucas’s heart. And the Thunderclap Blade made the task even easier.

It was a fourth grade weapon that had originally been obtained by Mira through one of the system’s previous investment returns, along with the Heavenly Silkworm Armor.

The blade was extraordinarily sharp. Xavier hadn’t even needed to exert his full strength. The sword had passed through Lucas’s chest almost effortlessly and pierced his heart.

As for Ethan’s parents, there had been no need for such precision. Neither of them possessed any martial cultivation. With the space completely immobilizing them, one swift movement had been enough to end their lives.

Xavier lowered the sword. Then he turned toward Rivers.

"Go through their belongings," he said.

He paused.

"And don’t touch the bodies with your own hands unless necessary," he added.

There were two reasons for the order. First, Xavier wanted to make absolutely certain Lucas was dead. Second, he wanted to leave as little evidence as possible.

Spatial rings were convenient because their owners could retrieve objects simply by using their thoughts.

But they weren’t permanently bound to their owners. Whenever someone used one, however, traces of their mental imprint could remain.

Certain specialists were capable of examining those traces and determining who had handled a particular spatial ring.

Xavier had no intention of leaving such a clue behind.

Rivers immediately followed his instructions. After searching the bodies, he found two spatial rings. One belonged to Martha. The other had been Lucas’s. Pete didn’t have one.

Rivers began emptying their contents onto the warehouse floor. Two separate piles gradually appeared.

Martha’s belongings were immediately obvious. Expensive cosmetics. Designer bags. Jewelry made from gold and precious stones.

Xavier glanced over them once before losing interest. He had no use for things like that. His attention quickly shifted to Lucas’s belongings.

"Second-grade pills... Vitality Pills, Mind-Concentration Pills..." he murmured, continuing to examine them.

"Third-grade pills... Blood-Rage Pills, Foundation Establishment Pills..." he added.

Then his expression changed.

"Two low-grade spirit stones," he said.

That caught his attention. But there was more.

A strange pill sat among the other resources. Beside it was a palm-sized jade talisman glowing with a faint blue light. And finally, a thin, translucent mask.

Xavier frowned.

"I don’t recognize these," he said.

The pill in particular was strange. Even before touching it, he could sense an unusual energy coming from it. The mask was even more peculiar. It was incredibly thin and flexible, almost like a second layer of skin.

Fortunately, Xavier wasn’t alone. He looked at Rivers.

"You know what these are?" he asked.

Because of the Life and Death Talisman’s control, Rivers answered without hesitation. He had served the Carter family for years and knew Lucas quite well. With his explanation, Xavier soon understood what he had found.

The mysterious pill was called an Awakening Pill. It was a fourth grade medicinal pill that could significantly strengthen a person’s mental abilities. In terms of effect, it was an advanced version of the Mind-Concentration Pill.

The blue jade talisman was known as a Divine Speed Talisman. Once activated, it could temporarily increase the user’s movement speed by more than twice its normal level.

There was a limitation, though. After being activated, the talisman needed at least seven days to absorb enough spiritual energy before it could be used again. It also had a fixed number of uses.

Once that limit was reached, the talisman would automatically break.

Then there was the mask. Rivers explained that it was called Thousand Faces. It was an extremely rare disguise artifact that Lucas had obtained by chance.

Unlike ordinary disguises, it didn’t merely cover the face. Once placed against the skin, it molded itself perfectly to the user’s features and could alter the underlying facial structure.

The result was so convincing that even people familiar with the original face could easily be fooled.

Xavier’s eyes lit up.

"These are all useful," he said.

He immediately stored the three items in his own spatial ring.

Then Rivers pointed out one final valuable item. A dark colored dagger. According to him, it had been Lucas’s personal weapon. And it was also a fourth grade weapon.

Xavier collected it as well.

Once everything valuable had been gathered, he turned back toward the bodies. Looking at Lucas and Pete lying motionless on the ground, Xavier fell into thought.

Something about himself had changed. This morning, killing Ethan had been the first time he had ever taken a human life.

Yet he hadn’t felt sick. He hadn’t panicked. He hadn’t even felt guilty. Now, after killing three more people in the span of a few moments, the strongest emotion he felt was satisfaction.

Xavier exhaled slowly.

"The Carter family’s threat is over," he said.

There was still one question. He could use Rivers as bait.

The other assassins sent by the Carter family would eventually come looking for him. If he continued using Rivers to lure them out, he could potentially eliminate every one of them.

Xavier considered it for a moment. Then he shook his head.

"Forget it," he said.

Those other people were nothing more than hired fighters. There was little point in continuing to hunt them down simply for their possessions.

How much could a Foundation Establishment martial artist even carry? With the Investment 10,000x Multiplier System, the treasures he could obtain in the future would far exceed anything he could collect by robbing these people.

There was no reason to become obsessed with short term gains. What mattered now was removing the immediate danger and continuing to grow. As long as he had enough time, he wouldn’t lack resources.

"Let’s clean everything up and leave," he said.

Xavier immediately got to work. First, he carefully removed every trace that could connect him to the warehouse.

Then he had Rivers gather all the cosmetics, jewelry, bags, and other personal belongings scattered across the floor and return them to Martha’s spatial ring.

The ring’s storage capacity was surprisingly large. Roughly twenty cubic meters. Clearly, the Carter family’s wealthy matriarch hadn’t been carrying it merely for decoration.

Next, Xavier ordered Rivers to store the three corpses inside the spatial ring. Once that was done, Rivers drove Pete and Martha’s vehicle away from the warehouse.

They traveled more than ten kilometers before reaching an isolated stretch of river.

There, Xavier crushed the Life and Death Talisman. The moment the talisman broke, Rivers’ body went limp. He died instantly.

Xavier placed Rivers’ body and the vehicle into the spatial ring as well.

Then he threw both spatial rings deep into the river. With that, the remaining evidence was effectively disposed of.

Xavier didn’t stay any longer. He returned to the city alone. Before entering the busier streets, he took out the disguise mask he had obtained from Lucas.

He placed it over his face. The transformation was almost instantaneous. His facial structure shifted subtly. His features changed. Even the overall impression he gave off became completely different.

Xavier touched his new face and couldn’t help smiling.

"This thing really is impressive," he said.

The disguise was so convincing that even someone who knew him well would struggle to recognize him. If his good friend Marcus were standing directly in front of him, Xavier was confident that Marcus wouldn’t realize who he was.

With the Carter family’s immediate threat dealt with, Xavier could finally focus on the reason he had left Arcadia Academy in the first place.

Business.

He stepped onto the roadside and hailed a taxi.

"Take me to the Skywater Pavilion Auction House," he said.

The car pulled away into the night.