Chapter 154: The Beginning Of Victoria’s Great Tribulation pt 1

Chapter 154: Chapter 154: The Beginning Of Victoria’s Great Tribulation pt 1

While Mira was still trying to process what she had witnessed, Xavier examined the remains of the assassin. After a brief inspection, he arrived at a conclusion.

"This fellow was probably sent by the Shadow Ring," he said.

He had not noticed the amazement in his wife’s eyes. His attention was focused entirely on identifying the person who had attempted to kill them.

"Shadow Ring?" Mira looked down at the corpse.

The assassin’s body had been badly mutilated by the sword attacks.

His original appearance was almost impossible to recognize, so she could not understand how Xavier had identified his affiliation.

"Who else would send a Star Sea Realm assassin after you?" Xavier explained.

"The Shadow Ring is the most likely culprit."

His reasoning was straightforward. An ordinary force would not casually dispatch a Star Sea Realm expert to assassinate someone at Mira’s cultivation level.

Furthermore, the assassin had clearly targeted her rather than the Sinclair family. Xavier had also noticed something else during the fight.

The attacker had survived his initial sword strike, something no ordinary Spirit Platform Realm martial artist could have accomplished.

Unfortunately, his inspection yielded little else. He searched the surrounding ruins but could not find a spatial ring or any other valuable belongings on the dead assassin.

There was no point wasting more time on it.

"We’ll have to deal with the Shadow Ring sooner or later," he said.

"There’s no need to worry too much about it now. If they send someone else, we’ll handle them when they appear."

With that, Xavier turned his attention toward a group of trembling children standing some distance away.

They were the only survivors from the Sinclair family. During the brief battle, the family’s martial artists had been caught between the poisonous mist and the overwhelming sword energy.

Almost all the adults had either died or suffered fatal injuries.

These children had survived simply because they were far enough away from the fighting.

Xavier glanced at Mira.

"What do you want to do with them?" he asked.

The children seemed to realize that the immediate danger had passed. One after another, they rushed toward Mira, crying and pleading for her attention.

"Big sister, please don’t leave us!" one cried.

"Auntie! It’s me, Nathan! You used to love me so much!" another shouted.

"Waaah! Sister, please help us!"

They were too young to understand the complicated grievances between the adults.

All they knew was that Mira was a powerful relative who might be willing to protect them.

Their pitiful cries tugged at her heart. For a moment, Mira’s expression softened.

But she quickly regained her composure. Feeling sorry for them did not mean she had to take responsibility for their future.

"Quiet!" Her sharp command immediately stopped their crying.

She then turned to Xavier.

"Mr. X, I think we should leave their arrangements to the government," she said. "Do you agree?"

There were two reasons behind her decision.

First, she wanted to cut every remaining tie with the Sinclair family. Taking these children in would only give her another connection to a family she desperately wanted to leave behind.

Second, she was still relying on the protection of others herself. Bringing the children along would only create additional complications.

It was better for them to be placed under the government’s care.

"That’s fine," Xavier said, nodding without hesitation.

"We’ll do it your way. Call Minister Bush and let him handle the arrangements."

He had no particular opinion about the children’s fate.

Although the Sinclair family had treated Mira terribly, they were still her relatives. It was her decision to make, and he had no intention of interfering.

* * *

After Mira contacted Samuel Bush and explained what had happened, the minister immediately set out for the Sinclair family compound.

He arrived approximately twenty minutes later.

The moment he stepped into the ruins, his expression changed dramatically.

"Hiss!" he gasped.

Samuel stared at the enormous sword shaped ravines cutting through the ground.

The destruction was so extensive that he struggled to believe it had been caused by a single person.

"Mr. X... Did you really do all this with your sword energy?" he asked.

"Yes," Xavier answered casually.

Samuel remained frozen for several seconds.

"Unbelievable!" Those were the only words he could manage.

He had always known Mr. X was powerful, but he had never fully understood the extent of his abilities.

Samuel remembered that when the Hunting Ground Secret Realm had opened not long ago, Mr. X’s cultivation had supposedly been at the peak of the Foundation Establishment Realm.

How much time had passed since then? Now, the man could unleash sword attacks capable of devastating an entire compound.

Samuel could not even begin to comprehend such progress. It was as though the normal rules of cultivation simply did not apply to Mr. X.

While Samuel was still struggling to process what he had seen, Xavier pointed toward Nightfall’s remains.

"Minister Bush, I’d like you to examine that corpse carefully," he said.

"There’s a good chance the dead man was an assassin from the Shadow Ring." He then added another detail.

"The poison he released killed almost everyone in the Sinclair family compound. Only the children who were far enough away from the fighting survived."

Xavier’s expression remained calm. He was not particularly worried about legal consequences for killing Adrian.

Given his current standing and the circumstances surrounding the incident, he had little reason to fear the authorities.

Still, there was no need to make things more complicated than necessary.

With a Shadow Ring assassin lying dead at the scene, investigating the attack would naturally become the government’s priority.

If the assassin’s poison had caused the deaths of the Sinclair family members, that would make the official explanation considerably simpler.

Samuel’s expression immediately turned grave.

"The Shadow Ring?" he said.

He had already known that the organization was targeting Mira.

The news had infuriated him, but there was little he could do against an assassination organization of that scale.

Now that an actual assassin had appeared, he finally had something concrete to investigate.

"Leave this to me," he said. "I’ll make sure the investigation is thorough."

The corpse could prove extremely valuable. Its identity might reveal the assassin’s background, while any evidence recovered from it could potentially lead them to other members of the Shadow Ring.

Samuel intended to pursue every available lead.

"Good. Mira and I will return to the Extraordinary Division first," Xavier said, nodding before taking his leave.

He and Mira then headed back to the Extraordinary Division.

With assassins from the Shadow Ring potentially lurking outside, remaining within the Division’s protection was the sensible choice.

Besides, the Sinclair family matter had finally been settled. There was no reason to keep dwelling on it.

Xavier could return to his usual routine: cultivating with Mira while continuing to work on the Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger manual.

However, completing the manual had turned out to be far more difficult than he had anticipated.

The closer he came to the final section, the more cautious he became.

He repeatedly reviewed the earlier explanations, checking the cultivation sequence and making sure there were no inconsistencies.

A single mistake in the instructions could render the entire manual unreliable. He could not afford to rush the final stages after spending so much effort on the project.

Fortunately, his progress was steady. Three more days slipped by. At noon on the third day, Xavier finally wrote the last character.

The Heaven Piercing Sixfold Finger cultivation manual was complete!

He leaned back and examined the finished manuscript. It was a substantial work, spanning two hundred A4 sized pages.

After countless hours of studying, drafting, revising, and checking every detail, he had finally turned the fragmented technique into a complete cultivation guide.

A deep sense of satisfaction welled up inside him.

"Now comes the important part," he murmured. "I need to find out whether the system will accept this manual for investment."

His anticipation was growing. He was already thinking about making two copies and giving one each to Mira and Maya.

If the system recognized the manuals as valid investment targets, he might be able to obtain multiple returns from the same martial art.

But just as he was about to make arrangements, an unusual pressure suddenly descended.

Xavier’s expression changed. He lifted his head and looked toward the window.

Outside, an enormous mass of dark clouds was drifting across the sky. Within moments, it covered the sun, plunging the surrounding area into darkness.

Lightning flickered violently inside the clouds.

At the center, the dark mass began rotating downward, forming a massive vortex that seemed ready to unleash divine punishment upon the earth.

Xavier recognized the phenomenon immediately.

"A heavenly tribulation!" he said.

His gaze shifted toward the valley behind the Extraordinary Division. The center of the swirling clouds was directly above that location. And that was precisely where Victoria Quill had been cultivating in seclusion.

"Victoria has made her breakthrough!"

"Is that... a heavenly tribulation?" someone asked nearby.