Her gaze wandered out the window, where a massive tree was towering over the valley where a sect called the Crimson Blood Cult once existed. She had already seen it from far away when traveling here, but her eyes would still linger on the alien plant whenever she saw it.
The appearance of these trees had rocked the XiGuang Province. Many sects had vanished in the blink of an eye over the past month; many of them had been exchanged for these massive trees that stood where palaces and monasteries used to exist. To think this western wasteland would be hit by such a catastrophe...
"... and the men in silver armor used a variety of weapons to wipe out the pursuers from the Crimson Blood Cult?" she asked the proprietress of the inn to reconfirm her statement she had made toward the provincial officials during their investigation. As an outer inspector of the Center, she had to make sure to note down everything minutely and correctly.
"And magical skills, don't forget those. Some of them were wielding the elements to burn and drown the men of the cult," the inn lady emphasized. "They didn't stand a chance, despite having cultivated." It seemed the cultivation skills of these people were especially impressive. She made another note.
"You said they called themselves Minas Mar?" she asked. Minas Mar again. It was a name she had never heard before coming to these boonies. After preliminary investigation, she knew that it was a group from the recently connected frontier. It kept coming up more often, even among the general public of the XiGuang Province, but she had not expected them to be this powerful.
At this point, the general public even spread rumors that Minas Mar raised the trees to punish the evil sects and that Minas Mar closed the rift. It was the work of the Wandering Sound Sect spreading rumors far and wide.
Just who were these people really? How could freshly connected barbarians adapt this quickly to the way of the Voracious Cloud Continent? Apparently, the new frontier would turn out to be a hassle.
"Yes, the man with the silver mask declared it before the fight began," she confirmed again.
"And they left to wipe out the cult?" the inspector asked again.
"No, after defeating the cult men, they sat back down and asked for their order. They ate and then left. The next day the giant tree appeared, and we never heard a thing of the Crimson Blood Cult. I can't say whether they were the ones. I mean, 50 people wiping out the whole cult sounds insane, but the fairy, I mean the man, did hint at it..." the proprietress explained diligently.
"The fairy?" she asked again, as the lady sounded a little confused.
"It's a little embarrassing, but I first thought the hooded man was a lady, because he spoke with a beautiful female voice," she answered with a slight blush.
"...I understand." She made another note. It seemed like Minas Mar had some peculiar figures....
...
---Shadow Ghost Cult, South of the Gate Guardian---
The smell wafting through the dead valley was disgusting. The sweet smell of rotting flesh. Fighting his urge to throw up, he got closer; however, the local grabbed his arm, shaking his head in panic.
"Do not enter! The cave is cursed. Forget the spells and traps inside; the men that managed to get out said their companions ahead simply fell over dead!" the local warned the inspector with a grave tone.
"What happened to those who survived?" he asked, not believing in a spell that powerful. There had to be another explanation. To set up an instant death formation, it would take an immortal sorcerer....
"They were disoriented and suffered severe headaches for several days, but ultimately recovered," he informed the agent with some hesitance, as he didn't understand what the question was for.
"I see..." the inspector only said, making a note. "Did they see anything inside?" he continued the interview. Many sects in the southern province had vanished, and it seemed like the Shadow Ghost Cult was one of them.
"T-They reported bodies at the entrance...actually, the ones that fell did so when they tried to check on the bodies. At first they thought they were only sleeping. So far, nobody was able to investigate the main complex..." the man explained. Once again, notes were made.
Unlike the other cases that were claimed to be the deeds of a group called Minas Mar, the fate of the cult showed a distinct difference. There was no massive tree growing here, and there were no signs of fighting, if he could believe the men of the Humble Desert Sect, who had investigated the cult for him.
Whatever the catastrophe was, it had silently wiped out the Shadow Ghost Cult without a sign to the outside world. It was their absence that caused the investigation. The question was whether this was simply a disaster, or the work of somebody. And who would that somebody be?
The timing was suspicious. Minas Mar was the most likely suspect, but why would they have acted differently here? Was it a copycat, using the actions of someone else to exact revenge? The Shadow Ghost Cult had no friends in the province. There were many who had a motive to wipe out the cult.
But he knew of no method that would cause anything that fit the descriptions. People just falling over dead, without a fight or a single wound, seemingly sleeping? Maybe the schoolers in the capital or the investigators of the central could make sense of such a phenomenon.
...
---Dark Ocean Sect, West of Gate Guardian---
She looked up at the tree, towering over the city of Golshan, formerly part of the territory of the Dark Ocean Sect. Compared to reports of other trees, this one was small; however, it had still wiped out every building and annex that used to belong to the now broken sect.
"...And you think this was the doing of Dowloon the... what did you call her? The champion of the Great Tournament?" she asked the cultivator again. The man in white robes had come forward to state his own theory based on something that happened a couple of days before the tree appeared.
"Right, did you really not hear of the tournament? They even made a heaven-grade armament for the winner. I'm sure it was Dowloon and Minas Mar who wiped out the Dark Ocean Sect," the man insisted.
She had never heard of this Great Tournament, but the name seemed right when they actually gave out a heaven-grade artifact. Armaments of such quality were rare, even in the central.
"But what do they have to do with each other?" she asked again. She had heard that there were rumors of Minas Mar claiming to have wiped all the sects that had apparently abducted people from the new frontier, but she had a hard time believing it.
"Dowloon killed the youngest disciple of the sect leader only a couple of days before the sect was wiped out; one would have to be daft not to see the connection," he explained confidently.
"Someone has finally stepped up to take care of these corrupt and disruptive sects," he added. She grimaced. The sect system was a carefully curated ecosystem. Was it perfect? No. But hearing someone idolize people that had potentially exposed the whole southern region of the XiGuang province to danger didn't sit right with her.
On the other hand, if just half of the rumors being spread were true, she could understand why someone would go to such lengths. Still, the scale made it hard to believe. She looked at the tree again, and her heart quivered.
This was a small specimen. How big were the bigger ones? How big was the so-called Gate Guardian? Could a wild province really bring forth a faction that could raise such entities at will? This could pose a danger on a whole new level...
She noted it down.
"Let's go to the next place," she commanded her entourage. It was her job to document and assess the full scale of this danger and report to the Central.