Cave Refuge

In such a situation, many enhancement scrolls belonging to families of high-level martial artists had been pilfered by juvenile delinquents.

In fact, had it been only this, once everything was over, those high-level martial artists would at most have to grudgingly accept their loss, for they had no choice but to acquiesce under the overwhelming trend.

But as time passed, those juveniles saw that the high-level martial artists dared not rebel, so their audacity grew ever larger.

It's known that households with enhancement scrolls typically must have at least one middle-rank warrior who has reached the Inner Breath Phase, for only with a cultivation level at this stage would they either go out alone or accompany others, giving them the chance to obtain enhancement scrolls.

Thus, it could be said that any household with enhancement scrolls, even at this time, could still be considered to be living a comfortable life.

The juveniles who led this affair were mostly from lower-class families, for had they received an elite education from a young age, their heated heads wouldn't have led them to break the norms like this.

Because they were of humble origins, their initial fervor was solely to scavenge as many enhancement scrolls as possible.

However, as they plundered, seeing the abundant supplies stored in the families they broke into, they gradually became mentally unbalanced.

With their mindset disturbed, the initial simple looting of enhancement scrolls turned into rampant ransacking.

And when some of them could not resist tampering with the supplies stored in the martial artists' estates while pilfering enhancement scrolls, the whole situation began to change.

Moreover, initially because of their timidity, the culprits had set their sights only on middle-class families within their base.

But with covert assistance from an unknown benefactor, their courage swelled, and they began to target families living at the very top of the base.

Families residing at the apex of the base either belonged to the upper echelons of officials or were protected by powerful martial artists.

Despite the chaos brought about by these juveniles within the base, frankly, everything was actually under the control of the officials.

After all, these juveniles from the lower strata neither possessed weapons nor had a high martial cultivation due to their background.

Therefore, they weren't truly battle-capable. Were it not for help from someone secretly safeguarding them from behind the scenes, given their actions, they would have met death over and over already.

The unseen mastermind behind this turmoil had set a limit, and once it was exceeded, whether officials or high-level martial artists, someone would step in to quell the disturbance.

Despite the meticulous planning, an unforeseen event occurred. It's unknown whether it was intentional or an oversight, but some juveniles' actions exceeded the preset limit, causing damage to the homes of some high-level martial artists.

Because of this issue, the affected martial artists ceased their surveillance and, instead of paying attention to the outside turmoil, returned to sit tight within their homes.

And somehow, amidst the group of once ordinary juveniles, a number of unsettlingly strong martial artists had joined.

With the inclusion of these martial artists, even the upper-echelon families living in the base began to suffer.

The Thompson Family couldn't avoid it either. When those youngsters burst through the door, Mr. Thompson had Mrs. Thompson hide in the bedroom, while he sat alone in the living room, facing the invading delinquents. Mr. Thompson was not nervous or afraid; he sat in the living room with detached composure.

The leading delinquent, after breaking in and seeing Mr. Thompson sitting alone in the living room, haughtily threatened him, "Old man, I advise you to hand over all the enhancement scrolls your family has or, if we find any scrolls while searching your house, the consequences won't be something you'd want to see."

Mr. Thompson was not afraid of the threat, calmly pointing to the donation certificate framed conspicuously in the living room, "My consciousness is higher than yours. The enhancement scrolls in the house have already been donated in response to the officials' call. You're too late."

Hearing Mr. Thompson say this, although everyone saw the donation certificate hanging in the living room, the lead delinquent remained persistent, "That certificate on the wall only proves you donated enhancement scrolls, not that you've donated all of them from your house. An incomplete donation is as good as no donation. Whether you still have scrolls is not for you to say—only after we search will we know."

Hearing this, Mr. Thompson picked up the pistol from the table, "Let's see who dares."

Seeing Mr. Thompson's pistol, the leader scoffed with disdain.

If in the beginning, they had encountered families with guns, they might have been afraid, for back then they were all ordinary people without any cultivation.