In this world, such treasures were rarely found on cultivators unless they were conducting a mission according to the laws of the Emperor. Since both guards were enacting their own form of "justice", it was not strange for at least one of them to have such a treasure.
After doing this which only took a breath of time, the two guards made their way out of the house while Pan Lei had some last words to tell to his parents. "Growing up as an orphan, I never had the chance to experience a parent's love for their child. I promise to make this as quick and as painless as I can."
The next moment, two magical flying knives flew from out under his sleeve and sliced both of Pan Chao's parent's neck as their corpses collapsed laying next to each other. This pained Pan Lei so much, that as he tossed a large fireball, he made both corpses lock their hands as he himself withdrew from the house.
It only took a total of five minutes for both the Patriarch of the Pan clan as well as Pan An to make an appearance after hearing that the formations expert they were investing heavily into's house began to burn for no reason.
Shocked expression could be seen on both of their faces as all of the Pan clan's elders appeared shortly after. "Patriarch, it seems that there were only two adult corpses within who had their throats cut. The only individual who uses such weapons within our clan is still in closed door cultivation."
"By this, it is safe to say that the Crescent Moon Sect who we are not on the best terms with may have been the culprit in this. What is strange, is why would they do this while not leaving behind the child as well?"
The report from one of the elders shocked everyone present including the crowd of disciples and their families who were Pan Chao's neighbors all this time. "Every elder and disciplinary hall disciple is to search our Pan clan's grounds to try to find any clues. If Pan Chao is not found by tomorrow morning, we shall declare war on the Crescent Moon Sect!"
"Do not worry I have recently begun doing business with a very powerful organization and they will be sending over a formidable expert to help protect our Pan clan from any dangers. In the meantime, I will lead the initial charge towards the Crescent Moon Sect's headquarters. You are all dismissed!"
Hearing their Patriarch's orders, everyone present began their preparations in order to help find Pan Chao. The onlookers who had no high status within the Pan clan were confused on why Pan Chao was so important, but for the Patriarch to display anger from his disappearance eased their hearts as they spread out.
"Why haven't you left?"
Turning around now that mostly everyone present had vanished, Pan Lei was still present and standing behind the Patriarch. "If you give me any half assed excuses this time, I will be sure to reward you properly."
"I wanted to let you know that I have finally broken through to the Adept stage of cultivation and wish to accompany you against our enemies. I am sure that with my help, the Crescent Moon Sect will be unable to stop us since they only have a single Adept stage ancestor guarding their headquarters."
"Very well, you are dismissed for now but do not venture too far from our headquarters. If Pan Chao was taken and a spy was left behind, I want to make sure that the spy will not have anything important to deliver."
After hearing the determination in the Patriarch's words, Pan Lei only showed his signature smirk that everyone knew about in the clan before he vanished as well. "Good, very good, keeping you here until the sun rises was my mission to begin with!"
As one would expect, the Pan clan's elders and core disciples who helped search for Pan Chao's whereabouts were unable to locate him. Not just that, but Pan An, an esteemed elder of the clan seemed to be receiving constant scolding from the Patriarch as well. This was done very openly and the clan members could only feel sorry for this once revered individual.
"Pan An, if you are still alive by the time I get back, you had better have finished inscribing patterns on many items so that our Pan clan will not suffer the wrath of both the Dark Raven Church as well as righteous clans who might know soon about our involvement with the Dark Raven Church's affairs!"
After dismissing Pan An, the Patriarch went out of his way to have two other Intermediate stage elders accompany him so that he had peace of mind that Pan An during the time that he would not be around to watch him would not escape the Pan clan's clutches. The main reason that Pan Chao's disappearance drove the Patriarch to madness, was because he was part of the Pan clan's prosperous future and the individual who would help them rise in power.
One could ask why the Patriarch just did not hire outside formation experts into the Pan clan, and there were many such reasons but the main one was because formation experts were rather rare, especially those who remained independent. If an independent formations expert partnered up with a proficient blacksmith, it was enough to build a fairly successful private business and would generate enough funds to not need the backing of a clan like the Pan clan
Since Pan Chao was the only individual from the younger generation to be considered above average when it came to learning about formations and able to apply his understanding to becoming a one star formations expert in only the span of three years, horrible thoughts arose in the Patriarch's mind. Would he have to take a large hit in the overall martial strength of the clan just to try and have a handful of youths train as formations experts?
