Violet’s insanity stemmed from insatiable greed and obsession.
Juan Ren’s, on the other hand...
...was born from an endless thirst for bloodshed and battle.
Juan Ren swept his gaze across everyone in the Detective Agency Department, a mad glint dancing within his eyes.
He had expected confusion.
Shock.
Perhaps even outrage.
After all, he had just barged into their headquarters, destroyed their front entrance, and openly challenged every single member present.
Yet the reaction before him was completely different from what he had imagined.
Every detective merely looked at him with blank, unreadable expressions.
Not a trace of surprise could be seen on their faces.
The atmosphere remained as cold and oppressive as ever.
Although the members of the Detective Agency Department were known for being taciturn and baleful individuals, they were by no means ignorant of the events unfolding throughout Sky Mist City.
News of the Sect Alliance had already spread across the entire city.
Likewise, everyone knew that the cultivators arriving aboard the seventeen magic vessels were monsters among their respective generations.
They were Heaven’s Chosen.
Each one had been personally selected by their sects to represent them in the alliance. Regardless of the cultivation realm they displayed, no one believed that reflected the limit of their true combat strength.
The title of Heaven’s Chosen was not something one obtained through luck.
It was earned through overwhelming talent.
Even among cultivators of the same cultivation level, they stood at the very peak.
Although the Detective Agency Department was considered one of Sky Mist City’s stronger divisions and routinely dealt with dangerous criminals, rogue cultivators, assassinations, and murder investigations, everyone present understood their own limits.
Against ordinary enemies, they possessed absolute confidence.
Against one of these Heaven’s Chosen...
That confidence simply did not exist.
Furthermore, only a few days ago, the captain had gathered everyone together and warned them of this exact possibility.
A challenger from the Sect Alliance might one day brazenly appear before the department.
If that happened...
No one was to accept the challenge.
No matter the provocation.
No matter the humiliation.
No matter the circumstances.
The Detective Agency was a department filled with rough and ruthless individuals. Most of them spent their days hunting murderers and suppressing dangerous criminals. Their methods were often crude, and many possessed violent tempers.
Yet despite all of that, they maintained absolute trust in their captain’s judgment.
His orders were never questioned.
Thus, when Juan Ren unexpectedly issued his challenge...
Not a single detective stepped forward.
Instead, several lowered their heads and calmly returned to sorting through documents, while others resumed discussing ongoing cases as though the intruder simply didn’t exist.
The oppressive silence was far more unsettling than any insult.
"...Eh?"
Juan Ren blinked several times.
"This wasn’t the reaction I was expecting."
His voice was unusually soft as he watched everyone continue with their work without sparing him another glance.
For a brief moment, genuine confusion appeared on his face.
Then...
Instead of becoming angry, the corners of his mouth slowly curled upward.
"Heh..."
His smile gradually widened.
Running a hand through his messy hair, he chuckled to himself.
"I guess this Detective Agency Department really is something after all."
Most people would have reacted with anger after having their headquarters destroyed.
Others would have accepted his challenge simply to preserve their dignity.
Yet these people had chosen neither.
They had simply ignored him.
To Juan Ren, that required an entirely different kind of resolve.
With a faint laugh, he turned around and walked toward the shattered entrance.
His staggering footsteps echoed through the silent hall until he disappeared outside.
As soon as he stepped beyond the building, all traces of excitement vanished from his face.
The madness receded.
His expression once again became blank and absent-minded, as though the bloodthirsty lunatic from moments ago had never existed.
Swaying from side to side, he gradually disappeared into the crowded streets of Sky Mist City, leaving behind nothing but a ruined doorway and a group of detectives who never once acknowledged his existence.